Suspicious blaze breaks out at Bronx church St. Nicholas of Tolentine
Friday, March 5th 2010, 2:56 PM
The two-alarm blaze broke out just before the noon Mass at St. Nicholas of Tolentine as the University Heights church started to fill up with parishioners, the pastor said.
"I rushed over and smoke was billowing out," Father Joseph Girone said.
"People were inside the church praying at the time and they had no idea there was a fire."
The fire started in a former confessional-turned-storage room in the vestibule of the church, blocking the main entrance.
"I got them out through the rectory door," a shaken Girone said. "Lots of people have issues with God but I don't know who could have done this," the priest said.
"I'm very sad."
Investigators immediately suspected arson.
It was not immediately clear what was used to ignite the fire, which took an hour to extinguish, FDNY officials said.
Several firefighters suffered minor injuries when part of a plaster ceiling collapsed on them as they battled the blaze, FDNY officials said.
"It is very suspicious," FDNY Deputy Chief Kevin Scanlon said. "The fire accelerated rapidly [and] it was a heavy fire that didn't have the normal flow of a fire."
FDNY investigators are trying to figure out whether the blaze is connected to other recent church fires in the borough, including one that engulfed the Glory of Christ Church in Parkchester in December.
Parishioners at St. Nicholas - deemed "The Cathedral of the Bronx" - were disheartened by the blaze.
"Why would someone do something so evil?," wailed Marina Pietri, 46, as she picked up her son from the parish elementary school, which was evacuated during the fire.
"This church has been a pillar of the community for years," Pietri said. "I'm so upset. It's devastating."
The parish was established in 1906 and the current building has been there since the 1950s.
A church official said it was too early to estimate how long it would take to fix the church or how much the repairs would cost.
Some determined parishioners vowed to hold a "Stations of the Cross" ceremony Friday night as planned, even though they would have to do it outside.
Others were distraught.
"I feel sorry and I want to cry because this has been my home away from home for a long time," said Isabel Gonzales, 52, who has been a parishioner for 28 years.
"I just want to know why."