A spectacular fire has left the Town of Aurora facing a terrible loss today.
The historic Aurora United Church went up in flames today.
Fire crews got the call at about 10:30 a.m. While crews focused on the fire, police closed down a stretch of Yonge Street and evacuated half a dozen homes in the area.
The church has stood on the site for more than 135 years, but now much of it is destroyed.
Police say a group of pre-schoolers and adults were inside the church before the blaze broke out and were immediately cleared from the building. No one was injured.
The church was undergoing roof repairs and this morning while crews were working a fire broke out. The exact cause of the fire is unknown but the flames spread fast and firefighters had a tough time fighting the fire.
“We attempted to get in and knock the fire down quickly,” says Central York Services deputy fire chief Paul Leslie. “Our crews attacked it quite aggressively in order to knock the fire down but it was unfortunately unsuccessful and eventually as the fire progressed we had to pull our crews back out into more of a defensive position because it was untenable inside the building at that point.”
Officials say they have not yet determined the cause of the fire and do not have an estimate on damage.
People in the community were stunned by what they were seeing. Many are already mourning the loss of the building, remembering moments like weddings held there from decades ago.
“It's overwhelming as you can see over our shoulders,” says Lorraine Newton-Komar. “It's absolutely devastating to see this incredible church is no longer.”
Now, with Easter just around the corner, a congregation of 600 people is left without a home.
Fire crews say small sections of the church need to be torn down, so firefighters can get at the hot spots that are still smouldering this evening. It’s unclear, however, whether the whole building will have to come down.
“I don’t want to speculate and say it’s a total loss, but when you consider the amount of damage to the building at this point, it’s really hard to see what could be salvaged,” Leslie says.
“In all probability, the structure may have to come down.”
According to the Town of Aurora, the church was built in 1878 and was designed by Henry Langley. Langley worked on several important churches and Ontario's third Government House - then the home of the lieutenant governor.
The first church on this site was a log structure built in 1818.
The town says the Aurora United Church lost one of its original spires in a storm in 1893 and both spires were removed in 1943 after being struck by lightning several times.
The sanctuary was renovated in 2009.
- With files from Matthew Talbot
