Investigators say fire that destroyed century-old Ohio church was arson

Cleveland, Ohio, fire officials announced Tuesday that the massive fire that destroyed Friendship Baptist Church last week was determined to be arson.

Cleveland Fire Lt. Mike Norman told WORLD that the fire was intentionally set and investigators were close to making an arrest. The blaze was not believed to be financially motivated, insurance related, or meant to target the church’s land, he added. Crews tore down the old stone structure, because after the roof collapsed, the 50-foot stone walls were unsupported and posed a serious collapse hazard, he explained. The height of the walls made the fire-ravaged building extremely dangerous to the surrounding area, and posed a serious risk to the crews who helped put out the fires and tear down the building, he said. A video posted online showed the church fully engulfed in flames before the great domed roof collapsed inward.

The fire department said that around 60 firefighters responded to the incident on Friday, and the cost of the damage was estimated to be around $500,000. The crews were able to protect a separate building near the south side of the church, and no injuries were reported, Cleveland Fire shared. The church, built in the 1890s, was vacant when the fire started, the department added, though it characterized the landmark as irreplaceable. Local outlet WOIO reported that many locals stopped by to pay their respects to the building following the fire. One local, Tony Spencer, who was baptized at the church in 1976, told the organization that his parents had taken him to the church every Sunday. Another local, Juanita Rucker, told local outlet WEWS-TV that her parents had been married in the church, and she couldn’t understand why it had been destroyed.

Architectural Afterlife, a historical preservation society, said the majestic church started out as a Jewish synagogue in 1896, before becoming a Baptist church. During the church’s golden era in the mid-20th century, it supposedly saw up to 1,000 congregants each Sunday, the society said. At the time, the church was led by Rev. James Stallworth, a charismatic voice in the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc., the article stated. By 2014, the church had gone from a strong pillar of the local community to a body of just 40 members, it continued. The church had sat empty for several years, and the city had shut off the building’s gas in early 2025, Norman told WORLD.