Fire destroys former church in Barber County

BARBER COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) — A fire destroyed the former Isabel Methodist Church early Saturday in Barber County. Fire crews got the call around 1 a.m. They raced to the 300 block of N. Burr but could not save the 107-year-old building.

Crystal Cummins is a firefighter with the Isabel Volunteer Fire Department. She is also the city clerk.

“For this fire, we had three trucks from the Isabel Department, several trucks from Barber County Station 1, and one truck from the Sawyer Fire Department,” she said. “Without the mutual aid from our neighboring departments, we might have lost other structures in the area. They were instrumental in helping keep this fire under control.”

Cummins said the town is grieving the loss of a piece of its history.

“We are all heartbroken over the loss of this building,” she said. “But we are so relieved that no one was injured.”

Gary Balding was one of the people who arrived as the fire was still burning early Saturday. He shared his video with KSN News.

“Sad to see,” he said in the video. “The old Isabel Methodist Church going up. It’s gone.”

The church stopped being a church more than 20 years ago when the Methodist Council sold off more than a dozen Kansas churches. Many of the churches were sold for salvage.

“I bought her so she wouldn’t be salvaged,” Julie Rohlman said of the Isabel church.

Rohlman’s grandmother in Isabel convinced the family that the church would be a great place to live. Rohlman, who lives in California, needed a part-time home in Isabel, so she bought the church.

“She was a productive church up until a month before I bought her,” Rohlman said.

Almost everything inside the church had been sold by that point, even the church bell, which went to a Wichita church. But the Isabel church still had its 22 stained-glass windows and a few of the original pews.

Rohlman did not convert the church into a traditional home. She said the church already had roll-down wooden doors inside, similar to garage doors, and side doors that would accordion out for classrooms.

“All of that craftsmanship was over 100 years old,” she said.

She normally left the interior wide open, but she would use the sliding doors when she needed to divide the church space into rooms.

Rohlman said she is still in shock about the fire, and she appreciates everyone who tried to save the building.

“Privileged to have had her – not a lot of opportunities you get to live in such a unique place,” she said. “She was a beautiful old building. It was amazing to be a part of her.”

Rohlman said no one was living in the building at the time of the fire. She plans to come back to Kansas to check the damage. Her family history is in the town, and her mother still lives there.

“Julie Rohlman has taken very good care of the church over the last 20 years,” Cummins said. “She worked hard to preserve the building and its original stained-glass windows.”

Investigators from the Office of the State Fire Marshal plan to go to Isabel on Tuesday. They will be looking for what caused the fire.

The City of Isabel would like to thank everyone that helped us contain the fire last night at the old Methodist Church. Unfortunately by the time we received the call the structure was fully engulfed and was beyond saving. While we are heartbroken over the loss of this beautiful old building we are so very thankful that no one was injured, it could have been so much worse. Firefighters worked in single digit temperatures to insure neighboring houses/residents were safe.

We would like to thank all the firefighters and first responders that showed up in one way or another.

Sawyer Fire Department, Barber County Fire Department, Barber County Dispatch, Isabel Fire Department, Southern Pioneer, neighbors and I believe Pratt County Sheriff’s Officers were even in the area at one point. I’m sure I have missed someone, but you are truly appreciated.”

City of Isabel