PHOTO BY JIM LOWE County fire Marshal Gene Harrison on Monday morning investigates the cause of a fire at a vacant house behind Kempner United Methodist Church. Fire early Monday morning destroyed a vacant Kempner house and a nearby camper. The blaze was caused by a short in electrical wiring, County Fire Marshal Gene Harrison said.

“I believe that fire started in the attic, and the ceiling fell in,” Harrison said. When firemen arrived at the scene about 2:30 a.m., walls were still standing in the front of the house, he added.

The fire occurred just south of U.S. Highway 190 East and FM 2313, behind Kempner United Methodist Church. Officials said they believe a passing motorist saw the fire and called authorities. Firemen contained the blaze, and the church emerged virtually unscathed.

With the house engulfed in flames when firemen arrived, “Our main job was to protect the church,” said Capt. Alan Mainville of the Kempner Volunteer Fire Department.

He expressed appreciation to the Lampasas Fire Department and Copperas Cove Fire Department, which assisted in firefighting efforts.

Two firemen from Copperas Cove and a battalion chief, five Lampasas firemen and 10 firefighters from the Kempner VFD converged on the scene.

Lampasas Fire Department used 2,000 gallons of water, and Kempner VFD applied more than 1,000 gallons to the blaze initially, Mainville said. An undetermined amount of water from a nearby hydrant also was applied to the fire.

Keith Criss, a former member of the Kempner fire department and a member of Kempner United Methodist Church, said he was roused from his sleep by a police scanner in the early-morning hours. He, too, went to the fire scene to survey the damage.

Of the house, Criss said, “It’s been vacant a few years. From the looks of things, a lot of things had been stored in it.”

The one-story, wood frame structure served as a rental house until several years ago, Criss said.

Ann Mitchell, another member of Kempner United Methodist, said she was told some time ago that numerous antiques had been kept in the house.