Fire at Santa Rosa’s Historic Church of One Tree Is Believed to Be Arson

A fire at the historic Church of One Tree in Santa Rosa on Monday night is being investigated as arson, according to fire officials.

The Santa Rosa Fire Department responded to reports of a fire at the 19th-century building, which was once the city’s First Baptist Church and later gained fame as the subject of an early installment of “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!”

Fire crews were dispatched to the building on Sonoma Avenue shortly before 8 p.m. and extinguished a fire on its backside, according to Battalion Chief Paul Ricci. Firefighters also cut a small portion of the church’s back wall open with chainsaws and determined that smoke, but no fire, had spread inside.

Ricci said that after the fire was put out, an investigator was called to the scene, and “based on the preliminary investigation, the fire appears to be an intentional act.”

On early Tuesday morning, a pile of redwood siding and insulation sat adjacent to the damage, which constituted a relatively small corner of the church’s alcove. No other materials were present.

The well-known church was built in downtown Santa Rosa from a single redwood tree, 18 feet in diameter, milled in Guerneville more than 150 years ago.

It served as the First Baptist Church for nearly 100 years before being repurposed as a memorial museum honoring Robert Ripley, a Santa Rosa native. He featured the church in one of his earliest versions of “Believe it or Not!” because his mother attended its services.

In 1957, the building was moved from downtown Santa Rosa to its current location, across from Juilliard Park, to avoid being torn down. It is now owned by the city and used as a community event space.

This is not the first time the church has been damaged by fire. In 1984, just after the installation of a new automatic fire alarm system and fire-resistant roof, the church’s steeple was charred in a blaze believed to be arson. Repairs at the time cost $72,000.

KQED’s Gabe Meline contributed to this report.