A Hernando County church used their Easter service to honor some of the first responders who saved their building from a fire.
- First Baptist of Hernando Beach was in center of brush fire
- First responders saved the building from fire
- Church honored them during Easter service
The First Baptist Church of Hernando Beach was in the center of this massive brush fire last week at the Wekki Wachee preserve.
Burnt brush is all you can see around First Baptist Church. As people begin to file in, to celebrate Easter, they are reminded of just how lucky they are to be there. The fire narrowly missed the church by just a few hundred feet.
"I got a call. He said I'm sorry you're not going to be able to have your service for Palm Sunday. They flames it's fully engulfed all around the church. But so far everything's ok around the church we just can't have anybody coming in. We were grateful for them to save the church. Even though we missed our Palm Sunday we're going to make up for it today," Music Director Leslie Tomlinson said.
At the beginning of their Easter service, the church brought up members of the Hernando County Fire Department, thanked them and presented them with gifts. A small token of their appreciation for their service and something the firefighters said was touching.
"We train every day, every shift we're working at our job and to get the opportunity to put that to use and essentially do something special for these people and be acknowledged for it it's nice,” Captain Keith Tomlinson said.
Captain Tomlinson said while the station closest to the church hasn't been there for very long, the community has been extremely welcoming.
"We have their back obviously because it's our job but it's nice to know that this community has our back also,” Tomlinson said.
The church also provided Easter dinner for the firefighters working Sunday.