12 Jan Fire ravages New York’s Liberty Bell church
A blaze which began inside an empty five-storey building on East 7th Street in New York, swiftly spread to the Middle Collegiate, one of the oldest churches in the city, which housed the state’s Liberty Bell.
Over 200 firefighters descended on the scene in a bid to save the structure, but its inside has been destroyed and four are reported to have sustained minor injuries. Crews fought hard to save the steeple of the church, but a commanding officer told New York state Senator Bard Hoylman that the structure may not stand.
Minister Amanda Ashcraft reported that the sanctuary inside the church is ‘not in good shape’ and that ‘beautiful Tiffany stain glass windows have been destroyed’.
Flames from the blaze also spread to a third building – an apartment block where people were sleeping but all the occupants managed to escape without injury.
Investigators are still on the scene tried to determine what sparked the blaze.