'The saddest day of our town': Church at heart of Bas-Caraquet destroyed
Jordan Gill | CBC News | Posted: June 25, 2018 9:44 AM | Last Updated: June 25, 2018
114-year-old St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church destroyed when fire comes back to life
A fire at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Bas-Caraquet has reduced the historic heart of the village to a smoky ruin.
The smell of smoke was overwhelming Monday morning, and debris and ash were scattered over the road in front of the skeletal remains of the building, which lost its steeple during a second burst of fire.
The fire broke out Sunday morning, and firefighters thought that they had it under control, but the flames roared back to life at about 4:45 a.m. Monday.
"The fire has almost entirely consumed the church," said Gilbert Blanchard, the president of the finance committee for the church. "The steeple has fallen. We were worried because the flames were coming out from everywhere."
The stone church was built in 1904 in the village about 10 kilometres east of Caraquet.
"It takes a few sparks that have slept and woke up in the early morning, and then it did not take long until it spread to the roof," Blanchard said.
By 7 a.m. on Monday, there were no visible flames, he said.
Heart of community
Blanchard said the church was the heart of the northeastern New Brunswick village, which has a population of 1,305.
"The church was built with poor people at the beginning of the century," he said. "It's our heart. It's our spirits … it's the saddest day of our town today."
The church had been at risk of closing in 2013, but a committee established to save the church raised $860,000.
The church was insured but Blanchard said he doubts that will cover all the damage. The parish is more likely to build a new building than repair the stone structure.
"We got insurance but a building like that … it's a lot of money," said Blanchard.
"It's something that we would like to rebuild … but to build something close to that would cost $10 to 15 million. It's pretty early but probably not, we won't get that church back."