COLLEGE PARK, Fla. – A fire occurred Saturday night at Incarnation Catholic Church in College Park, according to the Orlando Fire Department.
Crews made quick work of flames coming from the rear end of the building along Edgewater Drive, extinguishing the fire within 22 minutes of arriving around 11:30 p.m., the department said in a statement to News 6.
The fire prompted church leaders to arrange for only one Mass on Sunday, according to an update on the church’s website and signage on the door.
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No one was in the church at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported, the department stated.
Father William Holiday said he was thankful no one was hurt, detailing the damage otherwise left behind at his church.
“The church for all intents and purposes on the inside is destroyed,” Holiday said. “We did lose some paintings and some statues and things like that, but there were some things in there, there was a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary in there (...) and it did not have a mark on it.”
Holiday said that he didn’t want to risk conjecture when asked if he thought the church was targeted, stating, “If it’s circumstantial, it’s God’s providence, if it’s possibly intentional, that’s in God’s providence also.”
Cell phone video — provided to us by Carl Humphrey, who owns College Park Laundry and Dry Cleaners across the street — shows flames and smoke rising from the church.
Humphrey said he immediately called 911 upon seeing the church burning.
“I ran over there, banged on the door on the little property over there. I wasn’t sure if anyone was inside, no one answered,” he said. “I’m happy they’re still going to have service. I was the only one outside so I figured if I don’t make that (911) call, no one will.”
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
Regarding the Sunday Mass, it was to be “business as usual” at the church all the same, according to Holiday.
“When we go in, we are just going to celebrate Mass, I’m not going to say a word about it,” he said.
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