Sedalia church demolished on Friday

A historic downtown church is being demolished Friday after a massive fire tore through it Wednesday night. The First United Methodist Church stood at 4th and Osage in downtown Sedalia since 1888.

A fire burned it to the ground, leaving only the exterior walls. City and fire officials determined the remaining building to be too unstable and ordered the remaining walls to be taken down.

The demolition crew started with the tower that stood at the corner of the church. According to the Sedalia Fire Department’s Deputy Chief, the plan is for the bulldozer to push the brick inside of the church. They want to keep the brick out of the street as much as possible. And it also creates a sort of path for the bulldozer to drive over as it continues pulling down the exterior walls.

Fire crews have been on scene since the fire started Wednesday night at 10. As of Friday afternoon, there were still hot spots smoldering inside the church. As the demolition continues, the fire department will access the hot spots and respond accordingly.

The fire department says the investigation into the fire is officially over and will have an “undetermined” cause. They say because the building was unstable, they weren’t able to go inside, and with the demolition, they may never know what exactly started the fire.

The demolition is expected to be done by the end of Saturday.