A three-alarm fire destroyed a church in Lynn early Wednesday. Credit: Nicolaus Czarnecki/Metro
Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes early Wednesday as a three-alarm fire ripped through a church in Lynn.
The fire broke out before 6 a.m. at the El Siloe French Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Liberty Street.
Firefighters evacuated a 245-unit apartment complex next door as a precaution. The wood and brick apartment building was originally a technical school.
“We started the evacuation of the apartment very early in the operation because of the amount of fire,” Lynn Fire Chief Jim McDonald told WCVB-TV. “We had everyone get out of the rear section of the building and along the right side, and then we went to work on the church.”
Dozens of firefighters from Saugus were called in to help. McDonald said part of the fire was snuffed out when the church’s roof caved in.
No one was hurt. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The church has been the target of recent break-ins, church members said.
Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBos
