Suspected Arson Behind SaddleBack Church Fire
A brushfire that consumed two acres of Saddleback Church’s main campus in Southern California, and prompted retired Pastor Rick Warren to issue a call for prayers, has been fully contained, according to the city of Lake Forest.
Last Sunday, Warren took to social media, asking for prayers for the megachurch.
“Please pray: 2 acres of Saddleback Church have already been consumed by wildfire as of this moment,” Warren wrote on Facebook. “It’s our main campus (out of 20) in Lake Forest, A few weeks ago, we had a week of wildfires in our backyard, Now this. So far, no buildings have been in danger. The Lake Forest campus is 120 acres – about half are parking lots.”
City of Lake Forest officials said the fire was reported at 1 p.m., and authorities reported the fire was under control by 1:35 p.m.
According to SoCal PD Media, there were no injuries or structural damage from the fire.
SoCal PD Media also stated yesterday that the Orange County Fire Authority reported seeing a teenager riding an e-bike in the area before the fire started.
“It’s believed that the teen may have unintentionally sparked the fire and made efforts to put it out using a fire extinguisher before the authorities arrived,” SoCal PD Media reported. “Investigators are currently looking into the matter to determine the exact cause of the fire and whether the teenager’s actions played a role.”
However, today, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said that following “a thorough scene examination,” investigators determined the fire was intentional and have taken one person into custody.
Warren, best-selling author and longtime pastor and founder of Saddleback Church, was ousted from the Southern Baptist Convention in 2023 for naming a woman to its pastoral team, as reported in The Roys Report (TRR).
Warren retired from the pulpit in 2022. He was succeeded by Andy Wood, the former senior pastor of Echo Church who’s been accused of bullying employees and trying to deceptively acquire multi-million-dollar properties from vulnerable, aging congregations.
This piece is republished from The Roys Report.
Sheila Stogsdill is a freelance print journalist and digital reporter, primarily covering crime issues for KSN/KODE.