Fast-Moving 5-Alarm Fire Guts Abandoned Historic PA Church

Dozens of Pennsylvania firefighters worked for hours early Thursday to extinguish a five-alarm blaze that destroyed an abandoned church recently designated as an historic landmark.

The fire broke out at the former Third Presbyterian Church in Chester at about 2:30 a.m., KYW-TV reports. Flames quickly burned through the church's interior and roof, bringing down the steeple but leaving the stone walls standing.

The church's age created challenges for crews, which had trouble accessing the building. Firefighters encountered multiple collapses while battling the blaze, and they needed several hours to get the flames under control.

“From what we know at this point, it was vacant,” Chester Fire Commissioner William Rigby told KYW. “We arrived to heavy fire throughout the building.”

Erected in 1895, the building hadn't been used as a church in decades. It recently had been added to the National Register of Historic Places, and it was home to the Chester Historical Preservation Committee, which had been trying to restore it.

The cause of the fire is considered suspicious since the building had no running water or electricity. The building also had been vandalized in the past, according to KYW.