MELROSE — With Easter just two weeks away, a Melrose congregation is grieving damage caused by fire Friday at a historic church.
Crews from Sauk Centre, Melrose and Freeport were called to Church of St. Mary, 402 Second St. SE, at about 5 p.m. They continued to battle the fire several hours later. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
The fire appears to have started on the west end of the building, where the sacristy is located. According to church maintenance worker Allan Wiechmann, the boiler room, electrical panels and kitchen are below the sacristy.
Wiechmann said he checked the boiler room and other parts of the church before leaving at about 3 p.m. At 4:58 p.m., he got a call notifying him of the fire.
By 7:30 p.m. firefighters had poured water onto the sacristy area for more than two hours. They continued to spray water into the front of the church from a window they reached via boom ladder at about 6 p.m. Smoke poured out of the window when firefighters broke it.
Smoke had been coming out of roof vents even as firefighters soaked the roof with water. Shingles loosened by water pressure blew off the roof.
The Rev. Mitchell Bechtold of the church staff was also out of town when the fire started. When he returned, he described the congregation as “a very devoted community,” not only in their faith but in support of each other. He learned that a firefighter had rescued from a confessional a stole and a cross that had meaning to him because it had been broken and fixed many times.The Rev. Marvin Ennenking, primary priest for the church, was out of town at a youth retreat near Detroit Lakes when the fire occurred. As evening approached, he was on his way back to Melrose.
Streets were closed in one block surrounding the church.
More than 100 bystanders gathered around the church, a three-story red brick with stone foundation. Students and staff from nearby St. Mary’s school helped by bringing sandwiches and water to the crews. Central Minnesota Credit Union employees brought cases of water. Coborn’s employees arrived with Powerade.
Glen Klaphake of Melrose, a lifelong member of the church, said he saw flames coming out of the sacristy area.
He referred to the church as a cornerstone of the community and a historical marker.
Klaphake said the last major fire in Melrose happened when the Kraft plant burned in mid-1980s.
The church ministers to the community's newer Hispanic population as well as its more established residents, said Ray Primus of Melrose, a member of St. Mary's for 65 years. English language services usually were held at 5 p.m. Saturdays and twice on Sunday mornings, followed by a Spanish-language service at 12:30 p.m.
Baneira Orozco said she has attended church at St. Mary's with her family every Sunday for the last eight years.
“It’s beautiful inside," she said as she stood near the scene Friday night. "It’s just sad.”
Lifelong church member Paul Spaeth, Melrose, worried about the fire reaching the roof and destroying the building. He said the altar and other items in the church are irreplaceable.
"All I care is that we put it back together again,” Spaeth said.
The building dates back to the 1890s. According to church history published on the website, Church of St. Mary's was formed in 1958 after St. Boniface and St. Patrick parishes merged. Church of St. Mary's and its rectory were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. The church has undergone numerous improvements in the early 2000s, including having the interior painted and stained glass windows reconstructed and restored.
Church of St. Mary's became part of a four-parish cluster with the parishes in Meire Grove, Greenwald and Spring Hill, according to church history on the website.
Watch for updates as more information becomes available.