A fire broke out at a Roman Catholic church in Franklin, Massachusetts, Wednesday evening, postponing scheduled services for one of their priests who died earlier this month.
The Franklin Police Department says the Metacomet Emergency Communications Center received a fire alarm from a central station monitoring company around 5:46 p.m. for 1 Church Square. That was followed by a caller reporting a fire at the back of St. Mary's Parish.
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People were asked to avoid the area as the Franklin police and fire departments responded to the scene. Norfolk, Wrentham, Medway, Bellingham and Plainville firefighters provided mutual aid.
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Flames didn't appear to be visible from the exterior of the church, however smoke could be seen coming from some of the windows.
There was a significant amount of smoke throughout the entire church, according to the fire department, who added that the blaze in the rear sacristy was quickly extinguished by responding crews. Firefighters remained on scene for a period of time to ventilate the building.
Thankfully there were no injuries reported, police said.
There was a prayer vigil that had been scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday for Reverend John Sullivan, known as "Father Jack," who died on Oct. 13 after a brief illness. The public had been invited to attend the event, which had to be canceled due to the fire.
Father Jack Sullivan's funeral mass had been planned for the following day, Thursday at noon, but all services scheduled for Oct. 24 have also been postponed due to the incident Wednesday night.
Additionally, all other services at the church have been postponed, according to police.
There was no immediate word on the extent of the damage to the building, or what caused the fire.
The incident is under investigation by the Franklin police and fire departments, as well as the state fire marshal's office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
