Photos: John Muller

WAPPINGERS FALLS – The structure of the new Bethel Missionary Baptist Church at South Avenue and Prospect Street in Wappingers Falls was complete; plumbing and electricity were installed and now sheetrock had been delivered.

The building went up in flames before dawn Sunday morning in what one fire official said was a suspicious blaze. The fire was so intense that a portion of the new structure collapsed.

The new church was adjacent to the more than 100 year old house of worship, which the congregation had outgrown, so while the old facility was still being used, the new structure was being completed.

As firefighters from a number of area companies doused what was left of the building with water, several parishioners gathered nearby and sang and prayed.

The fire is under investigation.