Fire rips through Orlando church overnight
ORLANDO, Fla. - Flames shot from the windows of the Incarnation Catholic Church, on Edgewater Drive in Orlando’s College Park neighborhood. The fire raged from the back of the building, as Orlando firefighters raced to douse the flames.
Carl Humphrey, who runs the College Park Laundromat & Dry Cleaners across the street, said it was scary to watch. "Oh yeah, there were flames, flames coming from the back of the building. Lots of smoke, yes. So it tells me the fire was going on for a long time."
Humphrey said firefighters showed up fast. "Yes, so the fire trucks came and they broke the window, just to get the smoke out, so yeah, I think maybe inside was pretty damaged because it was going on for a while."
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The Orlando Fire Department said eight trucks and about 35 crew members responded to the fire. They said they had the fire under control in less than 15 minutes, and thankfully there were no injuries.
"Our initial arriving companies were able to deploy attack lines and gain entry to the building and shortly afterward extinguish the fire. A thorough search was conducted, there were no occupants at the time," said Asst. Chief Aaron Rhodes.
Fr. William Holiday leads the Incarnation Catholic Church. He and other church members recovered what they could from the burned church after the fire was out. "Both little areas where we keep stuff for the essentials to make vestments, the altar bread and things like that, that was all unscathed," he said.
The Orlando Fire Department is investigating the fire. Holiday said for now, they would be holding services in the parish hall.
The priest said he and the congregation are sad for the loss, but they'll continue to worship. "When people are hurting over things like that, you just come together and it's like if your body gets sick, you do what you need to do to overcome that, and you move on."