A closed door may have stopped a fire from causing significant damage to a church west of Listowel Tuesday morning.
Fire crews were called to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Molesworth around 5:45 a.m.
“They found a working structural fire in an addition along the west side of the church,” North Perth fire chief Ed Smith said in an interview.
“The fire seemed to originate on the second storey of that addition.”
In the end, about 40 firefighters from five stations – Listowel, Atwood, Monkton, Grey Township and Palmerston – responded to the scene.
They were able to contain the fire to the addition, in large part because a door connecting the addition with the rest of the building had been closed.
The addition was used as office space. It contained a number of files and documents which firefighters moved off-site in a bid to preserve them.
“It’s a slow process. The history that’s in the church – we don’t want to destroy it if we can help it at all,” Smith said.
The building did receive some smoke and water damage. An exact estimate was not available. No injuries were reported.
Early signs pointed to the fire not being suspicious, Smith said.
Part of Line 86 was closed for much of the morning for the firefighting efforts.
