FAIRFIELD— A fire early Sunday damaged much of the Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church before firefighters put it out, officials said.
A team of 31 firefighters worked to extinguish a church fire in Fairfield on Sunday, Nov. 7. (Contributed / Fairfield Fire Department)
Despite the damage, church officials said they were still able to hold Sunday mass on site, away from the damaged area.
Lt. Robert Smith, a public information officer with the Fairfield Fire Department, said crews responded to a fire at the church on Stratfield Road around 1:50 a.m. on Sunday after receiving an alert from a passerby.
It took 31 firefighters about 45 minutes to contain the fire, according to authorities.
No firefighters were injured and the church was vacant at the time of the fire. The church suffered “significant” damage but crews were able to contain the fire to one area, Smith said. The damage is likely repairable.
The congregation held all its masses Sunday morning in its parish hall instead of at the church. The church will continue to hold its masses in the hall until all the repairs have been made, said Michael Cooney, church organist.
In the Rev. Peter Cipriani’s announcements prior to his sermon Sunday morning, which is streamed on the church’s Facebook page, “he put people at ease,” Cooney said.
Cipriani said the fire is in a concentrated area by the niche.
“We’re already in the process of having things cleaned up. Certainly, repairs will follow but this is Our Lady’s Parish. This is just a bump in the road and it is a situation that although a little bit on the sad side is certainly very manageable,” Cipriani said. “Just one more reason for us to just gather together and to get closer as an extended parish family under our lady but I can assure you that things are definitely manageable at this point.”
Cooney said soot from the fire is all over the pipe work for the organ.
“The organ pipes have to all be removed and cleaned,” he said. “That’s what we’re working on now.”
Additionally, he said the organ console itself needs to be repaired due to the soot. He described it as a “waiting game” as they work to determine what needs to be repaired.
Cooney said he was at the church all morning, along with many others, helping with the clean-up.
“There’s soot and dust everywhere,” he said. “Instead of playing for masses, I was cleaning.”
“When I got there this morning, one of the construction companies, who is a parishioner, was there and they had everything cleaned up and tarped by 11 o’clock,” he said.
Cooney said as far as he knows, there has never been a fire at the church before Sunday.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, authorities said.
“Where we are doesn’t matter,” Cooney said. “We’re still a community and if we have to gather in the hall for a little bit, we’ll do that.”
