St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Danbury was severely damaged by a fire Saturday afternoon. No injuries were reported.
The three-alarm fire started around 2 p.m. The Danbury Fire Department said that it appears accidental, but it will remain under investigation. It is also unknown where the fire started.
Firefighters were able to salvage some artifacts from inside, but a large portion of the building, which the fire chief said was about 18 years old, collapsed.
The fire chief said it was very difficult to fight the fire because there is a lot of open space in a church.
For church members, there are no words that can describe the scene.
“It’s heartbreaking to see what happened here. We worked so hard to create this new church,” said Michael Timan.
He was an altar boy at St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church 72 years ago and is still very active. He recalled that the church moved from another location to its current spot on Pembroke Road in Danbury.
“We will rebuild,” he said. “We have a lot of dedicated people here.”