A space heater sparked a fire that destroyed an historic church in Albany’s South End, investigators said.

The fire broke out at Elijah Missionary Baptist Church last Thursday evening.

Bishop Avery Comithier used to live right next to the church and said now knowing what caused the fire gives him some relief.

“It gives me a lot of closure. It doesn’t make it better, but it does give me the what part, and the why part,” the bishop said.

The bishop has been staying at a local hotel since the fire and said he didn’t just lose his place of worship; he lost his home.

The bishop also said that still when he closes his eyes at night all he sees is the flames from the church.

The church, built in the 1880s, is in the process of being torn down. The demolition is being done by Ditano and Sons Demolition and officials said it is expected to take about another week.

The fire didn’t just destroy the church but also had a large impact on people’s home in the neighborhood.

Firefighters used so much water from the fire that some of the water rushed down Krank Street and flooded people’s homes.

“Also, like my basement. The neighbor’s basement got flooded to the top of the ceiling. It got into my basement about, like, three feet and a half,” said one neighbor.

There was hope the historic bell tower on the church could be saved, but the damage is too extensive to save it, investigators said.

NewsChannel 13 was on scene Wednesday night when firefighters were back on seen after the fire department said the church had a flare up.

Firefighters could be seen spraying the bell tower of the church from one of their fire trucks.

Albany Fire’s Chief Joseph Gregory said that this is not uncommon with a fire of this magnitude.