FORT SMITH -- An elderly Buddhist priest died in an early morning fire Thursday that destroyed a north Fort Smith temple, a fire official said.
Fire Marshal Ronnie Rogers said the cause of the blaze that destroyed the Wat Lao Buddharam temple at 2205 High St. was under investigation by the Fort Smith Fire Department. He said he believed the fire started in the main worship hall, where services were held.
Spokesman for the temple's 500 households, Virapol Sengmanivong, said Thursday that the 68-year-old priest, identified by the Fire Department as Souphonh Inthalanqsinh, had been assigned to the temple since it was built in the early 1990s.
He said the temple worship hall was used for daily services and for teaching by the priests. Its elaborate decorations were fashioned by one of the priests of the local Buddhist community.
Larger services are held in the community center next to the temple complex, Sengmanivong said.
A metal statue of Buddha that was inside the worship center melted down in the fire, he said. It took several men to lift the large lump that remained into a pickup Thursday morning.
About 20 members of the Buddhist community were on-site Thursday morning to check on the damage and to begin the cleanup. Several statues and ornaments salvaged from the charred remains, discolored from heat and ash, were leaned against the side of an adjacent building before being loaded into pickups and taken away for safekeeping.
Sengmanivong said some of the statues were brought over from Laos and Thailand.
Inthalanqsinh, who lived in the temple, was found on the floor of a bedroom, Rogers said. The bedroom was one of a few rooms -- another bedroom, office and kitchenette -- off the worship hall. Rogers said the priest's body was sent to the state medical examiner's office for autopsy.
Inthalanqsinh was one of two priests living at the temple, although the other priest is currently in Laos, he said.
The Fire Department got the alarm at 12:18 a.m. Thursday. Rogers said he believed a passer-by spotted the flames and reported the fire.
Firefighters found the temple engulfed, with flames burning through the roof, he said.
Three pumper trucks, along with two ladder trucks, a rescue truck and two battalion chiefs -- totaling a force of 19 firefighters -- responded to the blaze. Rogers said it took about 15 or 20 minutes to extinguish the fire, although firefighters were on the scene until about 5:45 a.m., dousing hot spots and standing by while fire officials investigated.
Despite the sub-freezing temperatures Wednesday night and Thursday morning, firefighters didn't experience any difficulties getting water to the flames, Rogers said. He said there were no injuries among the firefighters.
The temple, which was insured, is considered a total loss. Rogers said the loss totaled about $130,000.
Sengmanivong said the congregation will decide in the coming weeks whether to rebuild the temple. He said the worship center was previously destroyed in the April 1996 tornado that swept through Fort Smith and Van Buren, and was damaged again in a 2007 fire.
NW News on 03/06/2015