A historic church in Norristown, Pennsylvania, was completely destroyed by a fire that broke out on Tuesday evening. The fire, which started in the back of the building on an upper floor, spread rapidly through the structure, forcing firefighters to battle the blaze in frigid temperatures. Thankfully, everyone inside the building was able to evacuate safely. The church, which dates back to the 1800s, had undergone major renovations six years ago and served as an active place of worship.
The Norristown Fire Department has revealed the cause of the fire that destroyed a historic church in just a matter of hours the first week of the year.Philadelphia news 24/7: Watch NBC10 free wherever you are
"We just had church here Saturday. A good service, about 250 people that attend," ordained Deacon Paul Owens said. "It’s a historical building, we remodeled and did a whole lot of good things to it," Owens said."And to just see all these good memories go like this is a bad thing. It don’t feel good at all.”"Trouble don’t last always, and this too shall pass," Owens said.
SkyForce10 was over the scene just after 8 p.m. the day of the incident, and several firetrucks could be seen with their ladders extended, along with firefighters outside of the church. People are urged to avoid the area as roads are closed and icy from all that water and fire equipment. The entire building was covered in icicles as water continued to be poured on it midday Wednesday.
"Unfortunately the fire got up into these void spaces -- the walls, the ceilings -- and just ran the entire building," O'Donnell said.
FIRE CHURCH HISTORIC BUILDING NORRISTOWN PENNSYLVANIA
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