Fire investigators were on the scene of the latest tragedy at Cobleskill’s Zion Lutheran Church Saturday, trying to determine the cause of the fire that spared the pews, but blew out a window and scorched the ceiling.
Nearly 100 firefighters from Cobleskill, Richmondville, Carlisle, Central Bridge and Worcester responded to the blaze, called in as a working structure fire by the Cobleskill Police Department.
In February 2017, lightning struck the then-165-foot high church steeple during a rare winter thunderstorm. A year later, Zion replaced the steeple with a much shorter one.
At the scene Saturday, Vern Hall, who chairs Zion’s Building Committee, said he’d gotten a call at about 5am that the church was on fire.
That was followed a few minutes later by a second phone call, telling him the interior sprinkler system had also gone off.
“I’m not sure what we’re going to do,” Mr. Hall said, surveying the damage as volunteers rolled up their hoses to clear the scene just an hour and a half later.
“Right now, we’re waiting for the fire investigators. Obviously, we’ve cancelled services. But after that? We were already planning to sell the church. We just can’t afford to keep it going…”
Schoharie County Fire Coordinator Matt Brisley said it appears the fire started in the back corner of the church proper, but county and state investigators were trying to determine whether it began in the basement or on the main floor.
Because of the church’s high ceilings, Chief Brisley said, the heat rose quickly from the front of the church, with the belfry acting like a chimney, feeding air to the flames.
“It found air and headed up,” he said, before things got hot enough to blow out a window on the east side of the church, which further fed the flames.
Surprisingly, Chief Brisley said, the fire didn’t do much damage to the church pews, but badly damaged the ceiling and the area near the blown window where the church choir typically sits.
Congregations around Schoharie County and beyond prayed for Zion at their services Sunday; leaders at Zion are thanking the community for its support and sympathy, as the congregation figures out the next step.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.