Lee County Church Heavily Damaged In Fire

A Lee County church was damaged in an early morning fire that took hours to extinguish.

Crews from four fire departments were called to the fire at the Grace's Chapel Church on U.S. 1 in the Tramway community outside Sanford.

A church day-care worker called in the fire around 6:40 a.m. The fire left the building heavily damaged.

Firefighters were rotated out of the building due to heavy smoke. Officials say they do not know the official cause of the fire, but they do not think it was suspicious. Their efforts were concentrated in the upper portion of the sanctuary.

No one was in the sanctuary when the fire broke out. A handful of children already at the nearby church day care were safely evacuated and sent home.

A school on the property and the day-care center were closed for the day.