Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sava before the May 1 fire.
An orthodox New York City church caught fire on the evening of May 1, hours after worshipers had celebrated Orthodox Easter. Huge flames could be seen coming out of its doors and windows, and triggered a four-alarm warning, requiring 170 firefighters who battled to douse the fire.
The fire started at about 7 pm and led to a near-complete destruction of the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sava in Manhattan, which was designated a city landmark in 1968.
The church's priest, Father Djokan Majstorovic, tried to reach the scene but was blocked by the firefighters.
"I feel like I'm in a nightmare right now," he told reporters.
It took three hours to extinguish the main body of fire, but work continued until several hours later to snuff out small pockets of fumes. Fire officials have not yet disclosed what caused the fire.
"It was an advanced fire, already involving the entire interior," said New York's Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro.
Firemen poured water on the charred remains of the building, and tried to make sure that the vulnerable spots do not flare up again.
No major casualties were reported, but the church caretaker who was inside trying to put off the fire suffered minor smoke inhalation, and had to be rescued.
"No one has been injured, there is no one reported missing, and that's the good news for today. The bad news is this church has been destroyed by fire," Nigro said.
Parishioner Alex Velic, the caretaker's stepson lives adjacent to the church, said he ran outside when he saw the church on fire.
"My stepfather [church caretaker] was in there, but he's fine. He just has smoke inhalation so everybody left thank God," parishioner Alex Velic told CBS New York.
"Once the fire caught the wood there was flames coming out of the top of the church. That's when people were going crazy," he said. "I'm in shock. I don't know what to say. It's sad."
The roof of the Gothic Revival style building was extensively damaged, and the interior artwork and stained glass windows were completely destroyed as well.
Dex Pipovic, a regular attendant at the church for the last seven years told PIX11 News that the fire left him aghast. "I was just inside that building three hours ago," he said.
The Cathedral was earlier known as Trinity Chapel, first opened as an Episcopal Church in 1855.
170 #FDNY members on scene of 4-alarm fire at 25th & Broadway #Manhattan pic.twitter.com/Y9vTqFNBLQ
"” FDNY (@FDNY) May 1, 2016
