3-Alarm Fire Destroys Brooklyn Church

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A three-alarm fire destroyed a Brooklyn church on Sunday morning.

The blaze broke out just before 6 a.m. in the basement of the Deliverance Mount Olive Church of God in Christ in Brownsville, 1010 WINS' Samantha Liebman reported. The two-story building was gutted.

Five people suffered minor injuries, including one firefighter.

A restaurant next door on East New York Avenue sustained smoke damage.

About 100 firefighters responded to the fire, bringing it under control in about an hour.

The church's pastor, Bishop Johnny Walker, said he doesn't know what the congregation will do for services now, but he's already looking to the future.

"I'm going to start working on the building immediately," he said. " ... It is something else here.

"You never think it's going to happen to you."

The cause of the fire was not clear Sunday morning.

The Department of Buildings will determine whether the church is structurally sound.