An Opelika family of parents, children, teachers, and an owner are heartbroken after their “second home” turned to ash Monday night.

Firefighters, a total of 17, from stations one, four, and five responded to Children Palace Learning Center around 11:30 p.m. after a passerby called 9-1-1 reporting an active fire at the center located on Columbus Parkway. Shortly following the call, dispatchers and fire crews were alerted of an active fire alarm going off at the center.

When crews arrived, they located flames and smoke coming out of the business. 

CNAW2News.com reporter Colin Scroggins spoke with Angel, a parent of a two-year-old boy, who attended the daycare. Angel’s son was one of the first kids that started at the facility and “has been with Alexis [the owner of Children Palace Learning Center] for quite some time.”

Angel said she learned about the fire at 1:08 a.m. Tuesday, when she woke up in the middle of the night. 

“I remember that time exactly,” Angel said. “And I woke up because my son was thirsty. And I started scrolling on Facebook, and I saw someone share the article. And from that moment on, I did not rest.”

Angel immediately texted the owner just to check in and that’s when her, and the parents of all the other 90-plus children started receiving emails about childcare not being available due to the fire.

Eventually, the fire was extinguished by the city’s firefighters. Inside the daycare were cubbies filled, chairs stacked and empty, jackets hanging on hooks, lessons turned into ash, crafts untouched, and toys not played with. Also left, a calendar marking the last normal day of daycare: January 14.

A building a total loss, but the memories lasting forever. “It’s heartbreaking to see my class like this,” said one staff member, who walked CNAW2News.com through the ruins.

The daycare fire is the second of its kind in a week in the city. On January 13, 17 firefighters from stations one, four, and five responded to a blaze at By His Grace Daycare and Learning Center, located at 311 South 6th Street, which is two minutes down the road from the learning center on Columbus Parkway. 

Opelika Fire Inspector Bob Parsons said the two fires are being investigated as an arson. In both fires, according to a press release issued by the city, glass mason jars filled with accelerant were discovered.

A staff member at Children Palace said the mason jars were thrown through the front windows, where the baby cribs are located.

When CNAW2News.com reporter Colin Scroggins asked Angel what she wanted to say to the arsonist, she said: “I pray for you.”

“Honestly, that’s my honest truth,” she said. “I pray for you. I pray that God softens your heart. And I pray that you run into somebody in life who can change your heart. And I pray that you see that this doesn’t just affect a building. It doesn’t just affect an owner. It affects the community. It affects parents, children.”

The fire has left children calling teachers and letting them know that they miss them, parents who can’t pick up their kids, other parents who have to drop their kids off at other facilities in order to work and provide for their families, and staff members searching for answers and sifting through ash to find items that can be saved — all part of the hurt that this tight-knit daycare family is feeling.

“And when one person in the family hurts, everybody hurts,” Angel said. “That’s just like Paul tells us in the Bible that we all have our own part of the body of Christ. And if one part suffers, the whole body suffers. And that’s this case. The body is suffering.”

A place filled with love, safety, and care gone in an instant. The Children Palace said on social media they are “trusting God to heal, restore, and rebuild what has been lost.”

“God is faithful,” the facility said. “What was meant to harm us will not defeat us. Restoration is coming.”

The staff and parents ask the community to pray for the families, the owner, the staff and reach out to see where you can help rebuild and help the community have a space where kids are loved.

Following the fire, Opelika police confirmed they completed security checks at other daycare locations around Opelika.

“As calls permit, they will continue to patrol their sectors and check on the facilities,” according to police.

An investigation into both fires remain ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Opelika Police Department at 334-705-5220 or the Opelika Fire Department at 334-705-5330.