CARBONEAR, N.L. — A historic church in Carbonear was damaged by fire on Jan. 4.
St. Patrick's Catholic church, which has been standing for over 150 years, saw mostly damage to its furnace and furnace room, with some smoke damage to the main structure, according to Carbonear Fire Chief Brent Sweeney.
Sweeney told SaltWire the call came in just before 4 p.m. from a passerby who saw smoke.
When firefighters arrived they could see smoke coming from the furnace room, about 30 feet from the main building.
"That's gone now, that's condemned," he said. "It was completely destroyed by the fire. I don't know what they're doing for heat there now."
He said no one was injured in the fire.
Sweeney said it didn't take long to get the fire out, adding it was fortunate it happened in the afternoon.
"If it had happened in the early or late hours in the morning that could have been far worse, maybe could have spread to the church," he said. "We were lucky it happened in the afternoon and a passerby saw the smoke."
SaltWire has reached out to the church to see what the plans are for services until heating is restored but had not heard back as of press time.
According to the Facebook group for the church, Sunday Mass is being held at 10 a.m. at the Knights of Columbus until further notice.
