Fire Disrupts Church Service

A three-alarm fire interrupted last Sunday's services at the Congregational church on Garden street, causing an estimated $500,000 damage to the roof, ceiling and basement, according to Fire Department Captain Gerald R. Reardon.

The alarm system at the First Church in Cambridge, congregational alerted the fire department at about 1 p.m. Reardon said. sixty-five firefighters worked for about four hours to completely douse the flames.

The church also serves as a shelter for the homeless. The shelter's 15 residents were evacuated during the fire but returned to the church yesterday.

The blaze began in the attic, a location especially difficult for the fire department to reach, Reardon said.

"Church fires are notorious" he said. "The roof can be 80 to 90 feet above the floor, and we have 55 foot ladders."

No injuries were reported. The most significant loss was an antique Tiffany window, which had just been restored. The window was almost completely destroyed by the flames.

"The fire itself blew the window out. It dated roughly from 1901," said church administrator Gaylen Morgan. "It's a valuable art object, really the only tragedy in the fire."

Reardon said a malfunction with a 150-watt spotlight used to illuminate the window probably caused the fire. The lamp might have been dislocated when the window was re-installed last week, Reardon said.

Morgan could not confirm the fire department's half-million dollar estimate of the damage, and said she does not know when repairs will be complete.

According to Reardon, assistant sexton Gabe Paccio discovered the fire when he saw black smoke at the ceiling of the church and noticed flooding caused by the attic's sprinkler system. Paccio then shut down the electricity system and attempted to shut off the church's two sprinkler systems.

"He was unsuccessful in getting one down," Reardon said . "Fortunately, this turned out all right. It could have been catastrophic."

The sprinkler system caused most of the damage, flooding the plaster walls and ceiling of the church, Reardon said.

"Still, you'd rather have some water damage andstill have a structure standing," Reardon said.

The 15 homeless people lodged in the church'sbasement slept at the nearby Longy School of musicSunday night. By last night, the church basementhad been sufficiently cleared of water to allowthem to return, according to Morgan.

"The shelter's moved back in, the electricity'scoming back in, we're in action" Morgan said

"Still, you'd rather have some water damage andstill have a structure standing," Reardon said.

The 15 homeless people lodged in the church'sbasement slept at the nearby Longy School of musicSunday night. By last night, the church basementhad been sufficiently cleared of water to allowthem to return, according to Morgan.

"The shelter's moved back in, the electricity'scoming back in, we're in action" Morgan said