Houses of worship among the buildings destroyed by Los Angeles fires

Churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are among the buildings that have been destroyed in the Los Angeles area amid an ongoing wildfire emergency.

Hurricane-force winds have helped four fires move quickly through Los Angeles County, putting houses, historic buildings and lives in danger. More than 20,000 acres have burned so far, according to The Washington Post.

As the fires quickly spread Tuesday, journalists and others took to social media to offer updates on religious organizations.

Louis Keene, a reporter for The Forward who is based in Los Angeles, tracked the local Jewish community, noting that leaders of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center were able to evacuate with the synagogue’s Torah scrolls before the complex burned down.

“The main sanctuary could be seen on live television engulfed in flames, stunning news reporters and onlookers,” Keene reported, adding that parts of the campus dated back to the 1920s.

Keene reported that the Chabad Jewish Community Center of Pacific Palisades is thought to be safe so far.

Rabbi Zushe Cunin, the founder of that center, appeared on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning to describe his faith community’s evacuation.

He said that staff members at the preschool run by Chabad of Pacific Palisades worked quickly to reunite around 100 students with their parents as the fire drew closer but before former evacuation orders.

“It was a real incredible task to make sure that everybody was safely back with the families,” Rabbi Cunin said.

A KCAL reporter on the scene in Pacific Palisades Tuesday afternoon reported that part of Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church was on fire.

“I hear the fire alarms going off in the church. It really picks up when these strong gusts come through,” reporter Jasmine Viel said.

In a Facebook post shared early Wednesday, church leaders highlighted a Bible verse about leaning on God when you’re afraid.

“God will see us through this,” the post said.

On Wednesday, KCAL photojournalist John Schreiber reported on X that Altadena Community Church and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Altadena, California, have burned down.

The rector of St. Mark’s, the Rev. Carri Patterson Grindon, confirmed that report on the church’s Facebook page.

“Beloved Saint Mark’s Community, It is with a broken heart that I share with you the news that our church building is lost. It caught fire at around 6:30 this morning, and is gone,” she wrote, before encouraging church members in need to reach out to church leaders for support.

Another church building lost in the fire was shared by Pasadena Church of Christ, Expressions Church and the Church of God in Christ, according to The Christian Chronicle.

Firefighters reached the area before the building was lost, but they were unable to do much with their hoses because of the strong winds blowing the water back toward them.

“This has been devastating,” said one member of the Pasadena Church of Christ to The Christian Chronicle. “I don’t know the process. I know that we definitely want to rebuild. We were supposed to have Bible class tonight.”

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