Sad Day in Boston

Today was a sad day for the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in Boston. The oldest church building in New England burned to the ground in a dramatic fire today. It was dedicated in 1951 and was the meeting site for many people through the years, and is where Britney and I met. According to one news station, 22 fire trucks responded to the blaze, 7 of which were ladder trucks. In all, around 80 firemen worked to put it out. (Picture courtesy of Natalie W.)

Sadly, the fire spread through the attic unnoticed and by the time the alarms went off, it was too late. Even with all of the fire trucks the building burned to the ground! People believe it was started from an electrical fire based on where it was burning but nobody knows for sure. 

Today we had a session of stake conference church leaders broadcasted talks from Salt Lake City, so there were about 300 people in the building at the time of the fire. Fortunately, the fire alarm went off before anyone was in serious danger, but many members stood outside and watched as the chapel was engulfed in the flames. 

Here is a dramatic video captured of the flames and the collapse of the roof above the chapel section of the building.

Here is a link to a website with more pictures: http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/1740673/

This video has a firefighter talking about the blaze and interviews of members of the church.