MARIA STEIN, Ohio (WLIO) - Thick smoke could be seen from miles away as flames consumed St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Maria Stein.
The call for the fire came in around 2:30 p.m. from contractors who were working on placing new shingles on the roof of the church. According to fire officials, the blaze quickly spread across the peak of the roof. It took multiple hours and several departments from Mercer and surrounding counties before they felt the situation was under control.
According to fire officials, the blaze quickly spread across the peak of the roof.
"A half mile out, we could tell we had an obviously working structure fire. We knew it was a church. We already had first alarm coming in. We called for our second alarm. We got our first engine up in here. We had fire across the entire top peak of the roof. We sent a crew in to see if they could do anything up top in the attic. They didn't get too far in, and it was just they couldn't get far enough to do much, and they had to come right back out. So we had to return to being defensive at that point," said Joe Hertings, fire chief with the Chickasaw Volunteer Fire Department.
Nobody was inside the church when the fire started, as all of the contractors were outside working on the roof. Right next to the church is the priest house, and one resident said they were unaware of the situation.
"My daughter and grandson live next door to the church, and they saw the smoke. My daughter and Mason ran into the priest house, and one of the priests had been taking a nap, and the other was in the house yet, and they got them out of the house. By the time they got out of the house, the fire was already through the roof of the church. You know, it's 125,150 year old building, and I'm sure once that wood started, it was not going to be able to put it out," said Nick Schulze, Maria Stein resident.
Nobody was inside the church when the fire started, as all of the contractors were outside working on the roof.
Longtime members of the church were shaken by the sight of the building engulfed in smoke and flames.
"It almost just brings tears to your eyes. All of our kids have been baptized in this church. I have two girls or made their first communion and first reconciliation. It's just it's a lot to take in, especially, I mean, we live right here across the road, we hear those church bells every morning and every evening. It's just, you almost feel like you're living in a dream, because it's it just doesn't seem like reality at all," said Ellen Winner, member of the church.
Reports say that around 7 p.m., the steeple of the church collapsed, and firefighters continued to put out flames and smoke through the evening.
