Fire that destroyed Indiana church is ruled arson

Published: 2007-04-11

NEW CASTLE, Ind. (CNS) -- Law enforcement officials said April 10 that an early morning fire that destroyed historic St. Anne Church in New Castle three days earlier was arson. Firefighters battled the blaze for five hours on Holy Saturday in windy and unseasonably cold weather. Parishioners who had planned to celebrate the Easter Vigil there that evening traveled instead to nearby Cambridge City, where they were part of a standing-room-only congregation at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church. State Fire Marshal Roger Johnson and officials with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives immediately began a criminal investigation after the fire was put out, restricting access to the parish property and cordoning the area off with yellow crime-scene tape. The fire, which began in the basement, gutted the interior of the 83-year-old brick church, burned through the roof and melted stained-glass windows. The criminal investigation was suspended on Easter but resumed the next day. In a joint statement April 10 investigators of the federal and state agencies and of the New Castle police and fire departments said the fire was arson. They did not discuss any possible motives or suspects.

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