Church burns down
Fire consumes St. Joseph’s nine days before 100th anniversaryBy Kay Stephens, kstephens@altoonamirror.com
Article Photos
COUPON - Against a light blue evening sky, the charred steeple of St. Joseph's Catholic Church appeared stable atop a burned and blackened bell tower.
It was a portion of the rural church that remained Sunday after fire caused the roof, rafters and ceiling to collapse on the pews. The tragedy occurred nine days short of the church's 100th anniversary. A damage estimate was not available Sunday night.
"I'm glad we all got out," said Evelyn Urbanek who, since 1954, has been attending the Gallitzin Township church on the Coupon-Gallitzin Road, north of Altoona.
Sunday morning's Mass, with about 80 attending, ended a half hour before the fire was detected about 11:30 a.m.
"We lost a building today, but God watched the people," Ashville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Rick Zupon said. "It's going to be sad not to see it here anymore."
The cause of the fire is believed to be electrical.
Deacon Steve Luke was in the neighboring rectory, teaching a class, when he noticed an odor. Five choir members were in the church.
''I looked out the window and saw smoke coming out of the bell tower,'' Luke said.
Inside the church, Luke found flames around a ceiling light and used a fire extinguisher on them. But getting into the attic near the bell tower was too smoky, so he and others started removing the Blessed Mother, Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Joseph statues.
Zupon said the steeple was fully engulfed in flames when he and his crew arrived.
Fire was in the attic, too, where it was inaccessible, Deputy Chief Joe Racz said.
''It had already run across the roof," Zupon said. "So we went to an exterior attack."
An estimated 125 firefighters from 12 companies in Cambria, Blair and Clearfield counties responded.
It took about 90 minutes to get the fire under control, the chief said.
Three firefighters were hurt, suffering arm, leg and hand injuries. Two more suffered fatigue.
After the fire was out, Zupon and other firefighters helped salvage crucifixes, including one hung over the altar, and furnishings.
Because the fire was concentrated along the roof, items at the front and rear of the church mostly suffered smoke and/or water damage.
''I was married in this church 34 years ago today, and my husband was baptized here 56 years ago today,'' said Mary Malcotti, who lives a half mile away.
She said she was driving toward Huntingdon when she got a phone call about the fire.
''I turned around and came right back,'' she said. "We're just all devastated because this is not just the loss of a building. This building is our community. It's our town."
The Rev. Brian Saylor, who has served the church for 15 months, said the building is a loss for about 92 families and 250 to 280 parishioners.
"Nobody was hurt. That's the big thing," Saylor said.
Firefighters used a bucket truck to lift Saylor above the church building so he could take a picture of the altar and large crucifix which survived the fire.
Organist Teresa Wakmonski, tears rolling down her cheeks, could barely talk about the loss. She pointed to the organ that she has played every Saturday night for 25 years. She said she has no idea how the organ fared.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.
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Shadow
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09-23-08 12:17 AM
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God Bless you all,that is such a shame.MY heart is out to all you parishioners.I remember going in that church when I was very young.My parents had us out for a Sunday drive and we stopped in to say a prayer.
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mocus1
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09-22-08 11:37 AM
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What a shame. Truly a landmark in the Coupon area. Always enjoyed seeing this church on the C-G road. God Bless the parishioners and I hope they can rebuild their church.
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RobFan530
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09-22-08 7:57 AM
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I was in Ashville watching my son's football game when this happened. I can tell you that fire trucks from Ebensburg, Loretto, Cresson, Ashville & Gallitzin were all there, we knew it had to be a bad fire, then I watched the news at 10 and couldn't believe how bad it was. I am so glad everyone made it out, and I am praying for the injured firefighters.
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