Church building destroyed by early morning fire in Yonkers
YONKERS, N.Y. -- An early morning fire destroyed a Yonkers church building that has served the community for generations.
As CBS New York's Christina Fan reports, its most recent occupants just moved in.
Flames devoured St. George Orthodox Church, leaving little but brick and rubble of what used to be a community hall.
More than 70 firefighters rushed to Buckingham Road just after 3 a.m. and found heavy fire pouring out of the roof and windows of a building connected to the church.
"By the time I got off the phone with 911, the fire had already spread to multiple windows. It spread very quickly," neighbor Yuriy Mykula told Fan.
Crews could not enter and were forced to attack from the outside. Firefighters managed to prevent the flames from spreading to the church itself.
Fortunately, no one was inside.
About a year ago, a Jordanian Orthodox Christian community purchased the two buildings to establish their own community.
Parishioners from the Jordanian community are hurting, telling Fan they just moved into this new space and it was under construction. They say their strong faith -- then and now -- will help them overcome this devastating fire.
"We just bought the property, about 50 families, and, unfortunately, this fire happened just before Christmas," Soterios Baroody, of St. George Orthodox Church, said.
Neighbors say the structure has been around for decades and served several different dominations, in addition to putting on plays and housing a day care. Families say it was a true community gathering place.
"My sisters, when they were younger, there were a lot of dance parties there, everything. They had just about everything in there," said neighbor Armando Rauso.
The congregation says the destroyed space was used for Sunday prayer and Bible study. Their Christmas plans are now unclear, but those from the Greek Orthodox community say they'll be on hand to help through prayer.
"It's just a really big punch in the gut, as far as the community. But they've got a strong heart, unbelievable faith and love," Father Elias Villis, chancellor for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan District, said.
The fire department is still investigating how this fire started and if it's related at all to the recent renovations.
