Juneteenth plans ruined: Fire engulfs 150-year-old church in Central Islip

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - An early morning fire ripped through a 150-year-old church, destroying the historic building. Longtime church members were stunned.

"I drove by, and I saw the congregation standing outside there without their church clothes and I said, so what’s happening?", Boyd Coley told Fox5.

The fire also ruined the congregation’s plans for a special Juneteenth service.

Church Warden, Sandra Townsend said they went from "celebration to total devastation."

Flames tore through the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Central Islip around 3 AM Sunday. Pieces of the stained-glass windows scattered across the lawn. And a thick smell of smoke still lingered in the air. 

"It’s a staple in the community. Built-in 1869 everyone knows it and everyone expects it to be standing there," Chief of Department, Michael Zaleski told Fox5.

He says most of the damage is from smoke and that the interior will likely need to be gutted.

"Because of the age, it’s made with balloon construction, which means all the wood runs from the basement up to the top of the attic and allows the fire to travel quickly from origins," Zaleski said 

But they had help from nine other fire departments and were able to extinguish it quickly.

The fire isn’t stopping their services, those will be held just across the lawn at the church hall moving forward. Their weekly food pantry will take place as usual there tomorrow morning. That display of resilience was made evident in those who showed up today to offer any help they could.

"The church is about members. The building is good. We love this building. But the church is the members and the faith that we have," LaVerne Combs, a church member told us. 

Reverend Pastor Reyes says from the tragedy, the community stands strong, adding that atheism church is bigger than the building.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.