Fire Tears Through Historic Lutheran Church in Indianapolis

A fire tore through the 70-year-old Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, on the morning of August 7, causing $1 million in damages, according to the Indianapolis Fire Department.The department said the blaze broke out in the basement before spreading upwards throughout the church and told local media that no one was in the building at the time.The website Indiana Landmarks, which publishes articles on local history, says the congregation was formed in 1939 for both black and white Lutherans, and the church was built in 1948. “Our Savior Lutheran Church in Indianapolis holds a unique place in Indianapolis’s social and religious history, a symbol of racial unity during a period of widespread segregation in Indianapolis, the state, and the nation,” the website says. “The church is also a rare example of a historically black house of worship located in a historically white neighborhood.”The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Credit: Indianapolis Fire Department via Storyful