Arson Fire Stuns Congregation

All through the night Tuesday the congregants came to the Serbian Orthodox Church in Arcadia, bearing champagne to celebrate New Year’s and their Christmas holiday that comes next week. And all through the night the church elders had to turn them away.

An arson fire set early Tuesday morning had nearly gutted the church’s stand-alone kitchen, as well as its social hall where Tuesday night’s New Year’s celebration was to take place.

Based on interviews Tuesday with church members and employees, Arcadia Fire Capt. Dave Hutcheson said there were some indications the fire could have been set by someone “inside” who harbored a grudge.

“There has been some internal strife at the church in the past,” Hutcheson said. “That is one of the areas we are looking at. We are looking at internal problems, as well as external possibilities.”

He said no one has been identified or questioned as a suspect.

One church leader, Tom Janosevic, confirmed that the many political and cultural controversies that have caused so much strife in the former Yugoslavia do occasionally spill over into the church’s congregation, especially now that many of its members have come out vocally and strongly against the regime of embattled Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.

But Janosevic said the crime was so hateful, and so perfectly timed to occur just before the Serbian Christmas, that it could not have been done by someone affiliated with the church.

“This is not a grudge by a board member. It is too powerful for that,” he said mournfully. “It is like somebody attacking your family, your wife and kids, your home. Someone really wanted to hurt us . . . and they did.”

Christmas Day for Serbs comes Jan. 6, and special holiday celebrations were planned for that day as well. A huge Christmas concert had been planned for Saturday too, complete with an Eastern European musical star known as Vesna.

*

Now, all of those events have been canceled. And besides seeing their beloved church suffer an estimated $350,000 in fire damage, congregants were told Tuesday that they lost valuable artwork, and about $10,000 worth of food and drink that had been stored away for the upcoming holiday events.

“It is a tragedy,” Janosevic said. “People are all coming dressed nice and everything, and they see the church is black and they begin crying.”

“I have been sitting here turning people away, telling them sorry. Sorry for tonight, sorry for Saturday, sorry for everything,” said Janosevic, who had to refund $25 New Year’s Eve tickets to hundreds of people. “Someone would have to have hate torching his heart to come to our church and do this.”

Church members had just renovated the social hall that was nearly gutted in Tuesday’s blaze. Everything had been freshly painted, and “everything was new”--including an expensive sound system, Janosevic said.

The church’s priest, Josif Kosevic, and his wife, Milka, tried to call everyone to tell them not to come and see the still-smoldering church. Nonetheless, as many as 300 showed up, ready to celebrate. “What are we going to do?” asked Milka Kosevic. “I can’t understand it.”

Arson investigators combed the site Tuesday as a crew of 16 people from the church’s insurance company cleaned religious icons and paintings so smoke damage from the fire does not destroy them.

Janosevic said arson investigators told him they found evidence that four containers of gasoline had been lighted and that three of them blew up.

“That saved our church,” he said.

Authorities said witnesses reported hearing an explosion just after midnight and then seeing flashes of flame immediately afterward. Firefighters responded to the 12:08 a.m. alarm within minutes and extinguished the fire in less than an hour, Hutcheson said.

Janosevic said holiday services will be moved to the church’s sister facility, St. Sava in San Gabriel.

A task force has been convened to look into the blaze.