New YorkA huge fire on Saturday morning (local time) largely destroyed a historic church in New York’s East Village. Recordings from TV station ABC showed how flames completely enveloped the roof of the 19th century Middle Collegiate Church. According to the New York Fire Department, the fire broke out around five o’clock on the first floor of an empty building in the neighborhood and then spread to the church.
“Unfortunately it looks very bad,” Rev. Amanda Ashcraft told ABC. “The altar is badly damaged, our painted Tiffany windows are lost.” Almost 200 firefighters were on duty. It took them more than three hours to get the flames under control. There are no reports of injuries so far. The cause of the fire was initially unclear.
The Middle Collegiate Church has around 1,300 members. The roots of the Protestant community go back to the early 17th century. It is one of the oldest in America.
Photo: Yuki Iwamura / AP / dpa
The badly damaged church and – on the left in the picture – the burned out outbuilding
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