WETASKIWIN, Alta. — A second church in as many days has been damaged by fire in Wetaskiwin, Alta.
Officials are treating the latest one as “suspicious.”
At about 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning, a fire broke out in the St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The suspicious blaze comes one day after fire completely destroyed the First United Church in the community, 65 kilometres south of Edmonton.
RCMP Const. Scott Mercer says police have not been able to determine if the two fires are related.
He says the cause of the first fire still isn’t known, but the second one is considered suspicious.
“Obviously, it is going to raise eyebrows when two churches are up in flames consecutively like this,” Mercer said.
He said firefighters were able to contain the blaze at St. John’s Evangelical, preventing it from spreading to surrounding properties.
As for the congregation of the First United Church, a meeting was to be held Thursday to discuss how to move forward following the blaze.