Evening star., 1940-03-27
Raging Fire Sweeps Old St. Peters Church;
Destroys Roof of Historic Southeast BUILDING
Two Firemen Are
Hurt in General
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AIurm Blaze
Raging flames swept through his
toric st. Peters Church in South
east washington today, leaving much
Of the gray stone structure q charred
skeleton.
The picturesque roof of the build
ing, at Second and G streets Sc.
was completely destroyed and the
interior of the nave was soaked
with thousands Of gallons of water
and Uttered with charred timbers.
Firemen summoned by a general
alarm fought the stubborn blaze for
more than an hour before Fire Chief
Engineer Stephen r. Porter an
nounced the flames were under con-
troll.
Second Oldest Parish Here.
The church, center of the second
oldest Roman Catholic parish in the
city, had been undergoing redecora-
ton in preparation for the celebra-
ton this year of the 120th anniver-
sary of the founding of the parish.
The church pastor, the Right Rev.
E. j. Connolly, who dashed several
times into the blazing structure soon
after the fire was discovered, later
was reported Frustrated and under
medical care.
Two firemen were injured fighting
the blaze and scores of others mar
rowly escaped injury when the slate
shingles began flying from the roof.
Candles Still Burning.
Charred beams were all that re-
manned Of the roof of the building
when the flames were brought un-
Ger control. Sunlight streamed
through the roof onto the sane
tuary which miraculously had
escaped serious damage.
Streams of water filled the church
floor to levels OF two feet in many
areas
The flames on at least a dozen vigil
lights and altar tapers remained
Pickering while water dripped from
the soaked timbers left in the roof
The sanctuary lamp had toppled
to the floor and lay in shattered
heap in front of the altar.
Firemen continued to work with
hose lines inside the huge nave
long after the principal part of the
blaze had been battled under con-
troll.
100 Police Hold Back Crowds
Thousands of spectators were at
tracted by the flames and huge
clouds OF smoke which could be seen
for blocks. Emergency calls brought
more than 100 policemen to tae-area
to hold back the crowds and route
traffic around the scene OF the blaze
Many of the beautifully stained
windows of the church were shat
tered, though the larger ones on the
lowest level appeared to have es-
capped serious damage
The interior of the church's main
spire, which lowered nearly 100 feet
in the air, was virtually destroyed,
and at least one of the smaller spires
was toppled by the water pressure
turned on the blazing rafters.
Police estimated the damage at
$4,000. The loss was covered by in
surance. In addition to the damage
sustained by the 100000 structure
itself, number of highly valuable
sacramental vessels and other ar
ticles in the interior were destroyed
or seriously damaged.
Discovered by Painters.
The fire was discovered shortly
after 10 o'clock this morning. Two
painters, using blow torches on the
roof to remove old paint, saw smoke
curling from beneath slate about so
feet away from their scaffolds.
The workmen-Glenn Shorb Of
1854 Tenth street NV, and Fred
Gray Of 1912 Hayes street NV
climbed to the ground and hurried
to an alarm box on nearby corner,
but a pasSer-by, also seeing the
smoke, already had turned in an
alarm.
BY the time hremen arrived the
smoke had spread in patches gen.
orally over the roof, and it was evil
dent the attic of the structure was
completely in flames.
First streams of water shot to the
roof from high-pressure hoses loos-
ened the slate shingles and sent
them showering down on firemen
below.
Flames Leap IS Feet High.
Breaking through the holes left
by the falling shingles, flames shot
IS feet in the air and smoke bill
lowed in clouds, even shrouding the
Capitol grounds.
Two water towers were brought
into play, the first about 80 min
utes after the fire was discovered
and firefighters had completed the
precarious task of battering holes
in the roof. Climbing back down
the ladders the f1remen were show
cred with sparks and pieces of slate
as the powerful streams shot from
the tower hoses.
AS the sparks began flying through
(See FIRE Page A-3O