51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� A historic north 51黑料 church caught fire Monday for the second time this year after being ruined in a 2022 blaze.

It marked the latest incident of old church buildings across the city being destroyed by fire in recent years.

鈥淭hese churches are landmarks,鈥� said Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson. 鈥淵ou hate to lose them.鈥�

Firefighters were called around 8:45 p.m. Monday to the 126-year-old St. Augustine Church at 3114 Lismore Street where they battled flames that consumed the structure and threatened to collapse the bell tower with its prominent steeple.

Within 45 minutes, firefighters had the blaze under control, Jenkerson said. But on Tuesday, the church鈥檚 remains 鈥� a collection of bricks, charred interior and collapsed walls 鈥� were a reminder of the loss of churches across the city that served as community centers and positional guides for decades.

In 2021, a bell tower at a century-old church in the Central West End went up in flames. Last year, a fire damaged a prominent old church building in Soulard and another destroyed the north city St. Liborious church .

St. Augustine was built in 1896 and served as a Catholic church until the 1970s when it was taken over by other, smaller congregations from other denominations, .

Over time, the structure fell into disrepair. Vandals had stripped the structure of its copper, the upper balconies and archways fell, half of the windows were gone and water damaged the roof.

A fire scorched the building in 2022, leading to the collapse of some walls and thwarting a nonprofit鈥檚 effort to build a community center there. At the time, the building had no working utilities, but there were signs of possible squatters.

The city鈥檚 land bank took ownership of the building. Then, in January, the building caught fire again.

Jenkerson said the city fire department had surveyed the building as part of an effort launched in 2022 to assess vacant structures that may be a risk to firefighter safety.

When the call came in Monday, firefighters were prepared, Jenkerson said.

The first company arrived on the scene and took a defensive stand, trying to keep the fire from catching a rectory building and nearby houses. Within 10 minutes, they requested more manpower and equipment.

The biggest concern was keeping the church鈥檚 bell tower 鈥� topped with a large, heavy steeple and cross 鈥� from collapsing onto other buildings and firefighters, Jenkerson said. Crews requested more backup from hook and ladder trucks in order to stream water from up high.

鈥淚t got into (the bell tower) heavy, but with the amount of water we had, we were going to be able to bring it under control,鈥� he said.

The cause of the fire is undetermined, but Jenkerson said there are a couple of possibilities: Homeless people often take shelter in vacant buildings during chilly nights and may try to light a fire to keep warm. There is a chance the fire was intentionally set. The building had no gas or utilities, so that rules out an electrical fire.

An investigation into the cause is ongoing.