UPDATE, SUNDAY MORNING: 

• One Man Badly Injured in Arcata Church Arson Fire Last Night; Police Seeking Suspect Who Lit Flammable Substance Where Victim Was Sleeping 

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UPDATE, 10:10 p.m.:

Arcata Police have closed the church with crime scene tape. Scanner audio from about an hour ago, when Arcata Fire was first summoned to the scene, mention that callers reporting the fire also reported an assault victim at the location. A few moments later, one patient was sent to the hospital by ambulance — presumably, but not certainly, the same assault victim.

Emergency personnel are still too busy to talk. We will update when we know more.

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UPDATE, 9:40 a.m.: They’re sawing into the bell tower.

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Photos: John Ferrara

Arcata police and fire agencies have closed G Street while firefighters attack a fire in part of the town’s landmark Arcata Presbyterian Church, at the corner of G and 11th.

The Outpost’s John Ferrara is at the scene, and says that firefighters are attacking the fire hard. Friends of the Outpost report that the streets are closed all the way up to Wildberries. Emergency personnel are too busy to talk at the moment.

We’ll update when we know more.