Mops, churches and fire … who knew?

Apparently, the mops used to spread tar on the roof of the First United Methodist Church, 321 Oak St., started the roof fire Saturday.

hree days after the fire, the DeKalb Fire Department determined the cotton mops, still covered in tar, ignited and lit the roof on fire.

Assistant Fire Chief Bruce Harrison said the mops must have been left on the roof when workers were done for the day. Because the mops still were covered in tar, the tar dried and formed a shell around the mop.

Harrison said when the tar inside the shell became hotter than the rest of the tar, it caught fire.

“When there is a lot of tar like that, it burns dark,” Harrison said.

Harrison said machinery that was roped off as of Sunday was part of the roof work and was used to heat the tar going on the roof. The machinery, however, was not a culprit in starting the fire, he said.

The investigation has been closed, but Harrison said the department is performing post-fire operations, including issuing permits and enforcing codes on the construction company repairing the roof.

He said the repairs and construction of the roof fell into the hands of the church’s insurance company.

Jay Ward, chair of the church’s board of trustees, said the roof was repaired as of Tuesday. He said the company initially repairing the roof fixed the fire-damaged portion.

“The fire didn’t burn down through the wood decking, so it was easy to repair,” Ward said.

He said the church suffered minimal damage to its interior, other than a bent door frame and some water damage to the drywall.

The interior damage has yet to be repaired, but Ward said it won’t take long to get it done.