A fire severely damages the historic First Baptist Dallas church sanctuary

A fire all but destroyed the historic church sanctuary at First Baptist Dallas, sending smoke billowing over the city but causing no deaths or injuries, Dallas firefighters said.

The fire in the Texas Historic Landmark, a Victorian-style red brick church built in 1890, was reported about 6:30 p.m. Friday, and contained about three hours later, firefighters said.

“We think it may have started in the basement and then gone on to the second floor but until we clear it out and do an investigation we won’t know” the cause, interim Fire Chief Justin Ball told KDFW-TV.

A fire department spokesperson did not immediately return a phone call for comment Saturday morning.

“We are grateful that no one was injured ... and are thankful for the first responders who helped contain the fire to our historic sanctuary,” senior Pastor Robert Jeffress said. “We just had 2,000 children and volunteers on campus for Vacation Bible School earlier in the day.”

The evangelical megachurch, with 16,000 members, now holds its main services in a modern worship center next door to the historic sanctuary. Jeffress, a close supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, told WFAA-TV that he intends to hold services there on Sunday.

Firefighters respond to a fire at First Baptist Dallas church on Friday, July 19, 2024, in downtown Dallas. (Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at First Baptist Dallas church on Friday, July 19, 2024, in downtown Dallas. (Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

The First Baptist Dallas church's steeple stands as firefighters battle a fire at the church Friday, July 19, 2024, in Dallas. (Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at First Baptist Dallas church on Friday, July 19, 2024, in downtown Dallas. (Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at First Baptist Dallas church on Friday, July 19, 2024, in downtown Dallas. (Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at First Baptist Dallas church on Friday, July 19, 2024, in downtown Dallas. (Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Fire burns inside the First Baptist Dallas church on Friday, July 19, 2024, in downtown Dallas. (Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Firefighters battle a fire at First Baptist Dallas church on Friday, July 19, 2024, in downtown Dallas. (Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Firefighters battle a fire at First Baptist Dallas church on Friday, July 19, 2024, in Dallas. (Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian special forces walked inside a gas pipeline to strike Ukrainian units from the rear in the Kursk region, Ukraine’s military and Russian war bloggers reported, as Moscow moves to recapture parts of its border province that Kyiv seized in a shock offensive.

Ukraine launched in August a daring cross-border incursion into Kursk, in what marked the largest attack on Russian territory since World War II. Within days, Ukrainian units had captured 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of territory, including the strategic border town of Sudzha, and taken hundreds of Russian prisoners of war. According to Kyiv, the operation aimed to gain a bargaining chip in future peace talks, and force Russia to divert troops away from its grinding offensive in eastern Ukraine.

But months after Ukraine’s thunder run, its soldiers in Kursk are weary and bloodied by relentless assaults of more than 50,000 troops, including some from Russia's ally North Korea. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers run the risk of being encircled, open source maps of the battlefield show.

According to Telegram posts by a Ukrainian-born, pro-Kremlin blogger, Russian operatives walked about 15 kilometers (9 miles) inside the pipeline, which Moscow had until recently used to send gas to Europe. Some Russian troops had spent several days in the pipe before striking Ukrainian units from the rear near the town of Sudzha, blogger Yuri Podolyaka claimed.

The town had some 5,000 residents before the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and houses major gas transfer and measuring stations along the pipeline, once a major outlet for Russian natural gas exports through Ukrainian territory.

Another war blogger, who uses the alias Two Majors, said fierce fighting was underway for Sudzha, and that Russian forces managed to enter the town through a gas pipeline. Russian Telegram channels showed photos of what they said were special forces operatives, wearing gas masks and moving along what looked like the inside of a large pipe.

Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed on Saturday evening that Russian “sabotage and assault groups” used the pipeline in a bid to gain a foothold outside Sudzha. In a Telegram post, it said Russian troops were “detected in a timely manner” and that Ukraine responded with rockets and artillery.

“At present, Russian special forces are being detected, blocked and destroyed. The enemy’s losses in Sudzha are very high,” the General Staff reported.

The Associated Press could not independently verify these accounts, and there was no immediate comment from Russian officials.

Meanwhile, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Sunday that France will use profits from frozen Russian assets to finance an additional 195 million euros package ($211 million) in arms for Ukraine, the latest in a series of military aid deliveries funded through the mechanism.

In an interview with the La Tribune Dimanche newspaper, Lecornu said that Paris will send new 155-mm artillery shells and glide bombs for Mirage 2000 fighter jets it previously gave to Ukraine.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

People protest against President Donald Trump's policy concerning Ukraine in front of the US Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian rocket attack in Dobropillya, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)