Fires in Gothic-Style Churches

By Frank Leeb

Through the years, many church fires have been documented in the pages of fire service publications. Often, these fires have resulted in a heavy or total loss of the structure and in firefighter fatalities. Church fires present difficult challenges to the fire service because of their unique construction characteristics and general lack of fire protection features. This article is a review of fires in Gothic-style churches and of the successful operations of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) at a fire in a Gothic-style church on the morning of Sunday, January 4, 2015. The fire, which went to two alarms, occurred at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 104-1 37th Avenue, in the Corona section of Queens, New York. The fire was quickly contained to the front of the church, limiting the damage to the 115-year-old structure.

Our Lady of Sorrows, a large Gothic-style Roman Catholic Church, was built in 1900. Like many Gothic-style churches, Our Lady of Sorrows was built in the shape of a cross. The lower vertical part of the cross, the nave, is the main seating area. This area has a wide aisle in the center with pews on each side and smaller aisles on each end. The horizontal arm of the cross, the transept, extends at right angles to the nave. The upper vertical part of the cross, the choir, is enclosed by the apse, a semicircle or U-shaped wall. The altar is also in this area. The main entrance is opposite the altar and is usually the location of the rose window (a large, round, stained-glass window) and the choir loft. Additional entrances are on each side of the transept. (From inside the church, the altar area is usually considered the front and the main entrance, the rear.)