Provo Fire Marshal Conducts First Organized Media Tour Of The Burned-Out Provo Tabernacle

Utah reporters got their first serious look at the fire-gutted Provo Tabernacle on December 28th, 2010. While they weren't actually allowed inside the structure, they could see the damage through the openings in the walls -- metal piping, huge wooden beams, radiators and part of the old organ. The cause of the fire is still under investigation and a task force has been formed between the state of Utah, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- which owns the building -- and the Provo City Fire Department.

-- KSL Channel 5 gallery of 35 photos HERE.
-- Salt Lake Tribune gallery of 11 photos HERE.
-- Deseret News gallery of 15 photos HERE.

KSTU Channel 13 has a video HERE. KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

The investigation is slow and painstaking. First, crews are currently trying to stabilize the exterior brick walls with steel beams. Then crews will have to remove everything inside the building, piece by piece, documenting them with GPS coordinates as well as photographs, then laying them on a plastic tarp just to the north of the building, essentially trying to figure out how this fire started and help with the preservation of the building.

Investigators have also questioned people who were in the Tabernacle before the fire, pored over footage of the building before and during the fire, and started piecing together a timeline of events that happened before, during and after the fire. No decision has yet been made as to whether the tabernacle will be reconstructed.

The Provo Foundation continues to spearhead an effort to raise money for the reconstruction of the tabernacle. More details at the link below:

http://www.RebuildProvoTabernacle.com