Blaze damages historic city church
By Mark Leberfinger, mleberfinger@altoonamirror.comA severe thunderstorm rolled through Altoona Tuesday morning, but fire officials said they are not sure whether it played a role in a blaze that damaged a historic church.
About 6:30 a.m., the storm woke up William Helsel, his wife and their granddaughter who live across the street from Third Presbyterian Church.
"My wife smelled smoke. I looked out and I saw the smoke coming off the roof of the church," Helsel said.
Altoona firefighters discovered fire in the basement, but they also found roof damage - a sign of a possible lightning strike, Assistant Chief Randy Santone said.
Altoona Fire Marshal Randal Isenberg said he would start his investigation into the cause of the fire later today.
The fire did not immediately affect church programs, but a decision will have to be made on where Sunday services will be held. The church's session, or board of governing elders, had yet to meet, Third Presbyterian member Ed Kephart said.
The church is part of a yoked ministry with Juniata Presbyterian Church and could hold a joint service there, if needed, Kephart said.
The blaze was contained to the basement and altar areas, Santone said. Smoke and water damage was reported elsewhere.
Damage is estimated at $30,000.
"It looks like they did a good job in saving the structure," Kephart said.
The only weather problems reported at the time of the fire were pea-sized hail and heavy rain in the Altoona area, National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Head said.
The storm showed signs of weak rotation on Doppler radar but did not produce a tornado, Head said.
The storm and an earlier severe storm also triggered numerous power outages.
Larger outages were reported in the East Freedom and Williamsburg areas, Penelec spokeswoman Beverly Green said. About 1,000 customers lost electricity but most had service restored by Tuesday afternoon.
"It was a mixed bag of things - lightning strikes, wind and rain, but nothing out of the ordinary," Green said.
Mirror Staff Writer Mark Leberfinger is at 946-7462.
