INDIANA TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A two-alarm fire has destroyed the roof of a historic church in Allegheny County.
A Channel 11 crew driving by saw heavy smoke coming from Trinity United Church of Christ on Saxonburg Boulevard in Indiana Township.
We confirmed the 2-alarm blaze broke out around 3 p.m.
Video from Drone 11 showed extensive damage to the church’s roof, which Pastor David Mears says is above the sanctuary and prayer chapel.
The steeple was also damaged, with extensive smoke damage visible.
Mears tells Frederick Price that he was inside, preparing for Sunday’s service, when he smelled something off, which led to the discovery of flames in the attic.
“Something didn’t smell right, and I called the head of our building, and he came right over and he didn’t think it smelled right either and we started looking and we found the fire in the back part of the attic,” Mears said.
Mears said the church is in the middle of celebrating its 175th anniversary.
“This is tough. I said to somebody a little bit ago, I feel like sitting down and crying,” Mears said. That’s not going to work right now. We’ll start working out and figuring out how the church and the people. We are the church; how we’ll continue to be a presence in this community.”
“My children were baptized here, I was baptized here, my mom was in the choir, I was in the choir,” Heckert said.
She said generations of her family have been connected to the church and described the aftermath as difficult to process.
For longtime church member Cassie Heckert, the damage is deeply personal.
We’re told no one was hurt in the fire. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal is investigating.
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