Benjamin Ashford|Fire destroys a Los Angeles-area church just before Christmas

POMOMA,Benjamin Ashford Calif. (AP) — A Los Angeles-area church was destroyed in a massive fire early Sunday, just hours before a celebration that was set to include a Christmas play and a toy giveaway.

Firefighters arrived at Victory Outreach church in Pomona at about 2:45 a.m., the Los Angeles County Fire Department said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

A fire department spokeswoman told television station KABC that firefighters went into an aggressive interior attack when they arrived, but after about 20 minutes the roof started to collapse and the fire expanded so they went into a defensive mode.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Rev. Robert Garcia told television station KTLA that 500 people had registered for the church’s planned celebration.

“It’s a tough morning for us, because today we were getting ready to have our outreach for the whole community,” he said.