DALLAS — Dallas Fire-Rescue crews extinguished a fire at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in southeast Dallas Friday afternoon.
Crews responded to the church in the 2001 Haymarket Road shortly after 12:30 p.m. and found heavy smoke billowing from the roof. WFAA chopper footage showed crews on the scene and smoke and flames emanating from the roof shortly after 1 p.m.
Paul David Taylor, the church's pastor of 48 years, was inside the church when he noticed something wasn't right.
"I smelled something, and that was strange to me," Taylor said. "All I did was go to the door, open it, and then the smoke."
Taylor was able to make it out of the church safely.
"I called my dear, sweet wife," Taylor said. "I said 'The building is on fire, pray.' She did."
A second alarm was called shortly before 1:30 p.m.
WFAA helicopter footage showed crews escorting someone away from the scene in a stretcher. Dallas Fire-Rescue confirmed a firefighter was injured and taken to Baylor University Medical Center in stable condition. The firefighter was evaluated at the hospital overnight and released on Saturday morning.
Dallas Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Scott Zarse said he was proud of the crew's performance.
"They did a good job with the fire it was hot out here today," Zarse said. "We had the support necessary to take care of them."
It's the second Baptist church in Dallas that has erupted in flames in a week. Last Friday, the historic First Baptist in downtown Dallas was destroyed.
Investigators determined the cause of the fire at Pleasant Valley was an accidental electrical shortage in the church attic.
Pleasant Valley Baptist Church's offices and library were destroyed, but the space where the Congregation worships appeared to be in good condition. A collection of hundreds of old books and the pastor's Bible were saved.
Chopper footage showed crews appeared to have the flames mostly contained shortly before 2:30 p.m., but much of the roof appeared to have collapsed.
Dallas Fire-Rescue said crews controlled and extinguished the flames at 3:30 p.m.
"What I thought the whole time was: the Lord is in it," Taylor said. "There's a reason, and I don’t have to worry about it."
Taylor says Pleasant Valley will have an outdoor service tomorrow at 1931 Haymarket Rd at 9:30 a.m.
"Where do we go from here? We rest in him, trust him and pray to him. Meet and worship and lift him high because of what he did and is going to do," Taylor said. "God is going to give us a building to be in."
