By Peter Krouse, Cliff Pinckard
cleveland.com
CLEVELAND — A fire Tuesday afternoon caused extensive damage to the roof of the historic St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral in the city’s Tremont neighborhood.
John Kearns, assistant public information officer for the Cleveland Division of Fire, said it took firefighters more than four hours to extinguish the blaze, which was brought under control shortly before 9 p.m. It was contained mainly in the roof area.
Firefighters were able to save several artifacts inside the building, Kearns said. There also was no damage to the church’s windows or doors.
But he said firefighters had to give up on attempts to battle the fire from inside the church because it was in such a tight space. They instead used multiple ladder trucks to pour water on the roof.
“It was up in roof and steeple, it all stayed in the roof area,” Kearns said. “It took a lot of water to extinguish the fire.”
Investigators with the fire department are trying to determine the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage to the 112-year-old building. There were no injuries.
The church, located at 733 Starkweather Ave., is on the National Register of Historic Places and was featured in the movie “The Deer Hunter.” The film, released in 1978, stars Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The church also is seen during the opening credits in the 1989 film “Major League.”
Editor’s note: A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help fund the restoration of the St Theodosius Orthodox Christian Cathedral.
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