Electrical fire damages St. Christopher Church

Eric Atkins, director of management services for the archdiocese, inspects the light bulb and chandelier that caused a fire on June 2 at St. Christopher Church in Indianapolis. No estimate of the fire, smoke and water damage is available yet. Restoration work began shortly after firefighters extinguished the blaze. (Photo by Mary Ann Garber) Click for a larger version.

By Mary Ann Garber

Fire, smoke and water damaged St. Christopher Church in Indianapolis on June 2 after a small bulb in a chandelier overheated and exploded, causing the ceiling light to melt and fall then ignite hymnals and pews.

No one was hurt in the fire because the church was empty except for a woman cleaning another area of the building.

Eric Atkins, director of management services for the archdiocese, said a crew from Moore Restoration Inc. began cleaning up the damage in the church’s worship space and lower level rooms shortly after Speedway and Wayne Township firefighters extinguished the 11 a.m. blaze last Saturday.

No estimate of the damage is available yet, Atkins said, but the archdiocese will work with the parish to restore the 12-year-old brick church at 5301 W. 16th St. as quickly as possible. (Related: See a photo gallery of some of the damage)

More than 600 gallons of water were extracted from the church by the restoration crew after the fire.

St. Christopher parishioners were stunned by news of the fire, especially those people who were members when lightning struck the roof of the then brand new church during a 6 p.m. Mass on July 8, 2001, and caused extensive damage that closed the building for three and a half months.

For the second time in 11 years, parishioners are worshiping in the former church, which was converted to a gymnasium for St. Christopher School.

Father Michael Welch, pastor of the Indianapolis West Deanery parish since 1983, said after the noon Mass on June 3 that, “We’ve gone through this once before. … We just came back better and stronger. We’re a community that really prays together and sticks together. We’re sad once again, but we will be OK.”

St. Christopher parishioners are celebrating the historic 75th anniversary of the parish this year, and busy preparing for their huge “Summer Festival” on July 19-21. Four weddings scheduled in coming weeks have to be moved to other churches.

“Most of the damage is from smoke and water,” Father Welch said. “The water came down behind the walls. … I don’t know how many weeks we will have on the renovation. … The festival could be scaled down a little.”

Both Father Welch and Father David Lawler, associate pastor, are thankful that the electrical fire happened when the church was empty.

At 11 a.m. on June 1, Father Welch said, the church was filled with students for the end-of-year school Mass and awards program.

“Then 24 hours later, we had the fire,” he said. “I ask that people keep the community in prayer. It’s a difficult thing to go through two fires in 11 years’ time in a beautiful new church.”

St. Christopher Parish’s tabernacle, Blessed Sacrament Chapel, sacristy and unique collection of religious art were not damaged, Father Welch said. “The Eucharist has been removed from the church, and the artwork is all intact.”

Atkins said the fire burned three pews and melted vinyl tiles on the floor.

“Once the fire got hot enough, it set off the alarm and the sprinklers overhead,” he said. “… The Speedway fire station is across the street, and the firefighters extinguished the fire quickly. … The majority of the water fell down into the nursery, some meeting rooms and corridors on the lower level.

“We are working diligently to get the church back up and operational as soon as possible,” Atkins said. “It’s just one of those bizarre things. We don’t know why the bulb exploded.

“We isolated the chandelier, and are going to have it evaluated to determine if there is a problem with the chandelier or a problem with the bulb or maybe a combination of both that may have caused the fire,” he said. “We are in the process of determining how much smoke residue was discharged into the building, and trying to understand how much smoke mitigation work will need to occur to clean up the church.” †