Over a hundred firefighters were summoned Tuesday morning to battle a blaze at the Clinton Assembly of God Church and Clinton Fire Chief Jeff Hoke says all those people made things run very smoothly.

As firefighters were packing up late in the afternoon hours Tuesday, the Chief says there were still some hot spots that they anticipated continuing to smolder even after they left with the destroyed sanctuary in the backdrop.

Chief Hoke believes the fire had been going for a while upon the arrival of their crews. He says it was a challenging initially with just his crews there and then the challenge became situating the aerial trucks but once more manpower arrived, he was able to get a better handle on fighting the blaze.

Chief Hoke says the church fire Tuesday was by far one of the worst situations he's seen in his time in Clinton. He is thankful to the community and the Red Cross for donations of water and food and the support from the City of Clinton, the police and EMTs. He was grateful to Nelson Excavating and Tool Excavating for their lending of end loaders during the battle. 

Departments from Kenney, Wapella, Maroa, Farmer City, Heyworth, Farmer City, Waynesville, Weldon, Argenta, Oreana, Warrensburg, Decatur, Lincoln, Mt. Pulaski, Bloomington, and Hickory Point. The Chief says Lincoln and Hickory Point provider aerial trucks in addition to the City's ladder.