RAYMOND – As neighbors and churchgoers stood in a nearby cemetery shocked by what they were watching, firefighters from around the region worked quickly Tuesday evening to contain a stubborn fire at Raymond Hill Baptist Church – a fire that investigators say was deliberately set.

Few details have been released regarding the arson, but the State Fire Marshal’s Office on Wednesday said anyone with information is asked to call the state’s arson hotline, 1-888-870-6162.

According to Raymond Assistant Fire Chief Bruce Tupper, six state fire investigators as well as an investigator from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the church late into Tuesday night and again on Wednesday.

Despite the news of the arson, the church’s pastor, Benjamin Corey, said the congregation would hold strong.

“What was burnt was the building, and the church is not a building, it’s the people,” he said. “And no one can destroy the people.”

Ironically, Corey said he’s been preaching the last two weeks about forgiveness “and guarding love and not letting bitterness take over when you’ve been injured by someone … and I think I’m going to take my own advice.” Speaking on behalf of the congregation, Corey added, “We’ve already forgiven whoever did this.”

Quick work

Tupper said quick work by firefighters helped to limit the damage, which he estimates at $90,000. Most of the rear of the church, he said, was totaled, leaving the front of the church with mostly smoke and water damage.

“It’s salvageable, maybe not the back end, but most of it escaped with only water and smoke damage,” he said.

Tupper said the construction of the old building, built in 1834, made extinguishing the fire difficult, with fire spreading up into the ceiling quickly. Crews also had to remove large sections of the horsehair plaster ceiling to access hot spots.

Raymond Fire Chief Denis Morse said the arson was the first in recent memory and that it likely started in the back corner of the building. He also said accelerant-sniffing dogs found no signs of gasoline or propane an arsonist would have used, which helped limit the fire’s spread.

“This was not done by a professional arsonist. It was a small fire in the corner that spread, but because of the structure, the fire spread fairly quickly,” Morse said Wednesday. But what helped to quickly spread the flames also helped limit further damage to other parts of the structure since the fire burned through the back wall allowing heat to escape.

The combination of luck, skill and timing helped as well, Morse said.

“When you have a 150- to 200-year-old building with old boards, it’s part luck and part skill that it wasn’t worse, he said. “That and it had a lot to do with timing. It was a 5:30 p.m. fire, so (firefighters) were available.”

The only hiccup, Morse noted, was the lack of hydrants. To get water to the building, crews strung 3,000 feet of 4-inch hose from a hydrant connected to a pond on Route 85 near the town hall.

Beloved church

The simple white Raymond Hill Baptist Church has stood for more than 200 years near the intersection of Raymond Hill Road and Valley Road. Originally built in 1801, the present structure was built in 1834, making it Raymond’s oldest and one of Maine’s oldest churches, said Corey, the church’s pastor.

The land that the church sits on was set aside by town fathers in 1795 for an orthodox church to be built by Joseph Hutchinson, who was the minister at the Free Will Baptist Church in Windham at the time. Hutchinson started holding worship meetings in Raymond in 1791 and was able to erect the church building at the present site in 1801.

The church operated as a year-round church until several years ago when it started holding Sunday service four times a summer, usually through July and early August.

Deb Baker, who lives nearby and takes care of the church with her husband and parents, was one of the first on scene.

“It was incredible,” Baker said Tuesday night while watching crews extinguish the blaze. “Faith Vance, the owner of Clough’s Store called me and told me she heard Raymond Hill church is afire. So I live just a quarter-mile away and I just flew down here.”

Baker’s parents, Sam and Florence Whittemore of Yarmouth, watched crews work Tuesday night as well. They, along with Florence’s parents, the late Gus and Evelyn Plummer, have been taking care of the church for decades like it was their own home, Sam Whittemore said. They pay the electric bill, paint, re-shingle and re-roof when needed, he explained.

“We do it all because we believe in the good Lord,” Sam Whittemore said. “He put us in charge of this church.”

Though stunned the church had nearly been destroyed, the Baker and Whittemore families, who have celebrated several weddings in the church as well, and about 30 other members are not deterred by the fire or the arson. They intend to meet this Sunday at 11 a.m. for their last worship service of the summer.

“There will be a gathering, and it will be a celebration,” Baker said. “God had a plan for this to happen, like everything. We have insurance. We have a group of people who believe in God, who believe in this church and providing this for the people who live in Raymond Hill or wherever they live, and it will always be there.”

Corey, who lives in Beverly, Mass., and makes the weekly drive to Raymond, said all are welcome to attend the service this Sunday, which will be held under the trees on a side lawn beside an exterior wall of the church that suffered slight fire damage.

“I’m very hopeful,” Corey said. “And I am confident God will see us through this. When tragedy strikes like this, it can be an opportunity for people to grow more distant or grow together and walk together through that chapter. I have every confidence Raymond Hill members will walk together through this sad chapter.”

Members were especially grateful to firefighters who were able to salvage pieces of furniture, including an old display Bible, a decorative brass cross, a print of The Last Supper, a large portrait of Jesus and a framed handwritten poem detailing the church’s history, which dates to 1885.

“We’re lucky they saved it,” Sam Whittemore said. “They did an excellent job. Raymond, Gray, Casco, all of them, they were all here and they worked together so well. We’re so pleased with what they did.”

It isn’t only the caretakers who lament the fire. So do neighbors of the scenic church and cemeteries where many of Raymond’s early inhabitants are buried. Deb Chute, who saw police cars darting by her house located near the church, went out to investigate and was walking up the road when she smelled smoke and then saw flames shooting out the back of the church.

“It’s always been here, there are just a lot of memories,” Chute said. “I used to come here as a girl and I’ve attended many beautiful funerals here. And I used to mow the lawns here, too. There’s just a lot of history and you hate see this.”

Patrick Lee, who walks his dog in the cemeteries beside the church, came over after work to watch the firefighters work.

“It’s sad, truly,” he said. “I’ve been in it once for an open house, but it’s part of the neighborhood. It’s an icon.”

Fire crews from Raymond and five other towns battle a fire at
Raymond Hill Baptist Church on Raymond Hill Road in July. A
Standish woman has been charged with arson in connection with the
fire.
Fire crews were able to rescue the church’s display Bible,
furniture and several other religious items. (Staff photos by John
Balentine)