'I guess God was on its side': Minimal damage reported from fire at St. John's Church across from the White House

Greg P. | 1:00 AM on June 01, 2020

The historic St. John’s Church across from the White House caught fire Sunday night in what’s suspected to be an arson attack by the protesters:

. @kevincorke is reporting the historic St. John’s church in Washington, D.C. is being burned by rioters. Just horrific.

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) June 1, 2020

Fox New’s Kevin Corke showed the fire in the basement before firefighters arrived:

"It does appear St. John's Church is one fire, the parish office. We went downstairs and it is on fire. …As you can see there's definitely a fire here, this is the parish office."

People debating whether St. John's on fire but Fox News report sure seemed to show it is or was. pic.twitter.com/jUQGqFfGBT

— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) June 1, 2020

Thankfully they were able to extinguish the blaze before it did too much damage:

NEW: Fire was in basement of St. Johns, and is out, my @washingtonpost colleague @phscoop reports from DC fire department. Firefighters got there w/ a police escort and quickly put out the blaze. Did NOT appear to cause any significant damage, and it is unclear how it started.

— Michelle Boorstein (@mboorstein) June 1, 2020

“Mostly peaceful protesters” at work?

"Mostly peaceful" Democratic Party protesters have set St. John's Church across the street from the White House on fire. These are your voters, @SpeakerPelosi, @SenSchumer, @JoeBiden.

— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) June 1, 2020

The “historic landmark opened in 1816 and attended by every president since James Madison”:

Buildings near White House set ”ablaze — including St. John’s Church, a historic landmark opened in 1816 and attended by every president since James Madison. The basement fire, the cause of which remains unclear, was quickly extinguished.” https://t.co/oiPPNXgmpg

— Fenit Nirappil (@FenitN) June 1, 2020

From a Fire Department spokesman, “I guess God was on its side. It didn’t seem to have spread very much”:

Fire Department spokesman says blaze didn’t do much damage to the church: “I guess God was on its side. It didn’t seem to have spread very much.” https://t.co/BlYLWeJhkF

— Fenit Nirappil (@FenitN) June 1, 2020

This could be the only good news of the night:

Thank you to those fighting the blaze at St John’s Episcopal Church on Lafayette Square. God bless you. https://t.co/I0e1Fj1WM3

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 1, 2020

***