MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A fire severely damaged 150-year-old St. Raphael's Cathedral in downtown Madison on Monday, collapsing the roof.
It took firefighters more than three hours to get the blaze under control, and they were still trying to put out hotspots five hours after the fire started.
The church received a new steeple in November as part of a $1 million project, the first step in what was expected to be a multimillion-dollar refurbishment of the cathedral.
Madison Fire Marshal Ed Ruckriegel said the steeple was not in danger of collapsing, but the church planned to have it removed later this week as a precaution. He said the roof had collapsed into the church sanctuary.
Ruckriegel said it could take weeks or months to determine a cause.
The blaze comes less than two weeks before Easter, one of the holiest times in the Catholic faith.
Monsignor Paul Swain, the cathedral rector, was not hurt.
''Our faith is not built around buildings; it's built around Christ who rose at Easter,'' Swain told WISC-TV in Madison. ''We're people of hope. We'll persevere and move forward.''
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