NYC 4 Alarm Fire 5/1/16 @ Serbian Orthodox Church: Of Saint Sava

http://youtu.be/d_Lv0nvwllw/
07:25

Serbian Orthodox Church in Manhattan on fire after Orthodox Easter celebration

http://youtu.be/xWh36nsIINg/
00:01:02

Published on May 2, 2016

A huge fire has ravaged a Serbian Orthodox Church in downtown Manhattan, on the day that Orthodox Christians are celebrating the Holy Easter. It took some 170 firemen several hours to bring the four-alarm blaze under control.

http://on.rt.com/7bk1/

https://cdn.rt.com/files/2016.05/original/57269511c36188ca218b45a7.png * 3 Videos & 5 pics + *





Huge blaze devastates Serbian Orthodox Church in Manhattan on Easter Sunday (VIDEO)

A huge fire has ravaged a Serbian Orthodox Church in downtown Manhattan, on the day that Orthodox Christians are celebrating the Holy Easter. It took some 170 firemen several hours to bring the four-alarm blaze under control.

While initial reports suggested that there might have been people trapped inside the burning building, fire department confirmed there were no injuries or casualties.

The city’s fire commissioner, Daniel Nigro, told the New York Post that the cause of fire remains under investigation. One man is being checked out for “smoke inhalation,” Nigro added.

“It’s a very sad day today,” Nigro said, adding that the night before some 700 people had gathered in the Church for an evening service to celebrate Orthodox Easter.

MAN 4-ALARM 15 W 25 ST, HOUSE OF WORSHIP FIRE IN CHURCH, UNDER CONTROL
— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) May 2, 2016

“We're all alive, but the building is gone,” the parish priest, Fr. Djokan Majstorovic, told RT.

It took firefighters hours to contain the blaze that started at around 7:00pm local time.

Additionally, the NYPD has reportedly requested a Level 1 Mobilization at the scene of the fire for crowd control.

Social Media footage from the scene of the accident on West 25th Street in Manhattan shows an inferno swallowing the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava, a historic church located at 15 West 25th Street between Broadway and the Avenue of the Americas in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.

The Gothic Revival-style cathedral is an 1850 creation of architect Richard M. Upjohn. The parish was part of the Episcopal Church for several decades until 1915.

The Serbian Orthodox Church purchased the building, designated a New York City landmark, from the Episcopal Diocese in New York in 1943.

READ MORE: Fire rages at Russia’s revered Valaam monastery (VIDEO)

Prior to the devastating fire the church, according to its Facebook page, had been holding vibrant and joyful Easter liturgical celebrations.

“It’s heartbreaking. My parents were the first couple married there in 1944 after it was reconsecrated as an Orthodox church,” Melana Pejakovich, who now lives in Nevada, told RT. Her father was a soldier in the US Army at the time, and the wartime wedding was put together with the help of friends sharing their rations.




Serbian Orthodox Church
Српска православна црква
Srpska pravoslavna crkva

Territory

Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia

Possessions

North, Central and Western Europe, Americas, Australia

Language

Serbian and Church Slavonic

Members 8[1] to 12[2] million
Bishops 44
Parishes 3,100

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_Orthodox_Church/

Orthodox Music (Serbian, Greek, Russian, Arabic)

http://youtu.be/ckbsVvGl5x4/
01:19:38

Serbian Orthodox:
http://youtu.be/cIeHB6ZHsjo/ * Music & Pics Monastery- Pec Region Kosovo *
00:09:19

This is a loss to ALL Christians. And an historical loss to ALL of New York & the entire East Coast (of MANY Orthodox people) & perhaps the entire Nation.

It is too early to cry. But I am.

sad!

Arson?

Terrible loss. Was old electrical or arson?

I keep checking. It is under investigation. I definitely believe it is arson.

Geez.. A 180 year old landmark
With 44 Bishops assigned to it.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/05/02/raging-fire-destroys-historic-new-york-city-church.html/

Father Djokan Majstorovic, the church's priest, struggled to get to the fire scene blocked off by firefighters. "I feel like I'm in a nightmare right now," he said.

City Council Member Corey Johnson called for a full investigation into the cause of the fire.

"This is a huge loss for the community," he said. "In addition to being a place of worship, this historic building was a New York City landmark, treasured by the people" living in the neighborhood.

The church was designed by architect Richard M. Upjohn and was built in the early 1850s. One of its earlier congregants was novelist Edith Wharton, who wrote "The Age of Innocence." She was married in the church in 1885.
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Raging fire destroys historic New York City church

Firefighters battle flames at the historic Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava, Sunday, May 1, 2016, in New York. The church that was constructed in the early 1850s and was designated a New York City landmark in 1968.






http://www.whdh.com/story/31861916/raging-fire-destroys-historic-new-york-city-church/ * Article & Video *



http://nypost.com/2016/05/01/massive-fire-breaks-out-at-manhattan-church/
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Church Web Site: Holiday
(180 year old church)

http://stsavanyc.org/schedule-of-easter-and-passion-week-services-3/

Heartfelt condolences.

Manhattan
Officials investigate devastating Manhattan church fire



Chris Sommerfeldt, Ryan Sit, Barbara Ross, Lisa L. Colangelo

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS 05/03/2016















TWO Orthodox churches in AUSTRALIA also went up in flames on Sunday, as did ONE in RUSSIA. Authorities do not believe the fires are related. (Link)



Well.. We wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, now would we? FOUR in a day on Orthodox EASTER is just a coincidence.
* Sarcasm & anger *

NYFD- Is saying 'Candles Maybe' (New York Post)

Orthodox News Site...

FOUR other Orthodox churches, & ONE Monastery around the world were damaged or destroyed by fire on the same day, however, prompting some to suspect foul play. A Greek church in Melbourne, Australia was damaged and a Macedonian church in Sydney was completely destroyed. Easter celebrations at the historic Valaam Monastery in Russia were interrupted by a blaze in the guest quarters.

READ MORE: Fire rages at Russia’s revered Valaam monastery (VIDEO)

http://www.rt.com/news/341548-valaam-monastery-fire-helicopter/
* Pics & Video*

“Too many churches have burned to call it an accident,” Dusan Batakovic, a former Serbian diplomat and currently director of the Institute for Balkan Studies in Belgrade, told the New York Post.

“It is very strange that it happened, that the fires all took place on Easter, the greatest Christian Orthodox day,” he said. “Some kind of terrorist action cannot be excluded"

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow

Russian Orthodox Patriarch declares worldwide ‘holy war’ on terrorism

Published time: 6 May, 2016

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has called the fight against terrorism a “holy war” and urged international unity and an abandoning of double standards to defeat this global evil.
* More/ quotes on link *

http://www.rt.com/politics/342097-russian-orthodox-patriarch-declares-international/

Christ is risen.