Chicago firefighters are battling a massive blaze that engulfed a historic church on the city’s South Side early Wednesday.
Advertisement
Fire crews were called to the Shrine of Christ the King Church in the city’s Woodlawn neighborhood around 5:45 a.m.as smoke and flames billowed out of the roof. They were forced to fight the fire from the outside and pour water on the roof to douse the flames. Deputy Fire Commissioner John McNicholas explained that the church’s open, sweeping architecture made it especially susceptible to structural damage as the fire raged inside the building at 6401 S. Woodlawn Ave.
Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford says there are no reports of injuries, but a shelter next door for women and children was evacuated.
A fire in the late 1970s destroyed much of the interior of the neo-Renaissance church and the Chicago Catholic Archdiocese was about to demolish the church when the Institute of Christ the King offered to renovate it. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Advertisement
Langford says the fire appears accidental. The church was built in 1923. He said he was hopeful that the bell tower was OK and the shrine could be rebuilt.
