Crews battle hotspots after fire at historic church in Norristown, Pa.
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (WPVI) -- Heavy flames caused major damage to a church in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night.
Crews continued putting out hotspots early Wednesday morning, as they also battle cold and windy conditions that made getting the blaze under control difficult.
The two-alarm fire broke out just before 7 p.m. on the 500 block of Dekalb Street at the Faith Tabernacle House of Prayer.
Chopper 6 was overhead as heavy smoke billowed from the structure.
Norristown Fire Chief Tom O'Donnell said the fire appears to have started in the rear of the first floor and went up into the second-floor sanctuary.
Firefighters ultimately called a defensive effort because conditions inside deteriorated so rapidly.
It's a place Church Deacon Paul Owens has called home for many years.
"I was born and raised in this church. I started off as a musician, choir director, ordained deacon, and was moving up in the ranks, but that don't matter. To see this building like this right now is very depressing," said Owens.
The historic building had once been a library and served other uses before becoming a church.
The building had a fire 10 years ago and it's now happened again following recent renovations.
"We just remodeled in there and trying to get everything together, and this is just a bad setback," Owens added. "It's an old building so we tried to put whole lot of new things in there and get everything right. I don't know what's going on. This is bad."
Officials haven't said how the fire started, but some church members indicated it may have started in the kitchen.
People inside initially heard a popping noise at around 5 p.m. on Tuesday but didn't know what it was. Then, they saw flames a couple of hours later and called 911.
Officials say there were people inside at the time the fire started but they evacuated safely.
"As long as no one is hurt and they get the fire out and everybody is safe, it's OK," said Owens.
