Fire at church in West Springfield

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - For the first time in more than 20 years, a fire has damaged a church in West Springfield. An attic fire sent large amounts of smoke into the air and flames through the roof of the Emmanuel Baptist Church on Front Street late Friday morning.

• Photos: Fire at church

The church has been at the location, in a historic railroad station since the late 1990’s. In addition to worship services, many members of the community use the church for Bible study.

“I feel very bad for them. I don't know what happened, I hope it's going to be fixed. It's really bad news. In feel so sorry,” Konstantin Shelebowsky of West Springfield said.

West Springfield Fire Chief William Flaherty told 22News that it's too early to know whether the church can be saved. There was no one inside the building when the fire began in the attic.

Chief Flaherty said Church fires in West Springfield are rare.

“I think the last one was the Mittineague Congo (Congregational) back in the early 90s. They had a cellar fire up on Westfield Street,” Flaherty said.

Mitteneague was eventually repaired, as worshippers at Emmanel Baptist Church hope their church isn't a total loss.

Chief Flaherty said his firefighters would have been put in more danger, had the fire occurred during the height of the snow storm.