Saint Edmund Church in Queens badly damaged by fire a day before Easter
Easter Sunday services will not go on as planned at Saint Edmund Church in Queens, following a fire on Saturday afternoon.
Video shows heavy smoke and flames shooting out of the beloved Breezy Point house of worship, which was left a shell of its former self. Inside, the pews were scorched and the piano was destroyed. Outside, the effigy of Jesus Christ on the cross was charred beyond recognition.
"That's scary damage because that was on the altar," said neighbor Debbie Egan-Chin, whose husband shot the footage that shows the heavy flames at around 2 p.m.
Despite the extensive interior damage, the structure was left intact and there were no injuries.
Cause appears to be electrical, diocese official says
John Quaglione, with the Brooklyn Catholic Diocese, said the cause appears to be electrical in nature, but officials with the Fire Marshal's Office are still investigating.
"The parish had just set up for Easter Mass earlier this morning and so at the time that the fire happened, there was nobody inside, but big response from the fire department, over 30 units, 140-plus EMS and FDNY personnel were on scene," Quaglione said.
Parishioners are now planning to attend Easter Mass at two other nearby parishes.
St. Edmund was damaged during Superstorm Sandy
This is not the first time Saint Edmund has been nearly destroyed. For many in the congregation, Saturday's fire brought back memories of Superstorm Sandy.
"The smell of the fire just brings back so many memories of the storm and I think we had our closing here when we bought our house. It was right in there. And I just saw a woman, I said, 'How bad is it?' and she goes 'I got married in that church,'" neighbor Janie Culleton said.
Bill King and his wife, Jean, walked down the aisle inside St. Edmund almost 38 years ago.
"That window there, Father Connolly gave me a shot of whiskey before I walked out into the alter. So I remember looking out the window and seeing my friend pull up in his Volkswagen," King said.
And hopefully there are more memories to come. On this Easter weekend, Saint Edmund is ready for its own resurrection.
