The Associated Press
MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. — An four-alarm fire damaged a 161-year-old Massachusetts church and forced the town of Middleborough to cancel its Memorial Day parade.
The morning parade was schedule to march past the Central Congregational Church on Monday before a ceremony at the Veterans Memorial across the street.
But firefighters were just getting the blaze under control at midmorning.
The blaze was called in at about 6:30 a.m., and firefighters from 11 towns eventually responded.
Fire Chief Lance Benjamino says the fire began in a back kitchen, moved up a wall into the church’s soaring white steeple.
Officials said the church’s interior was a total loss, but some religious items might be salvageable. Officials were still investigating the cause.
The church’s pastor, the Rev. Bruce Smith, vows the church will rebuild.