A fire early Thursday morning badly damaged the office and rectory building of Christ the Divine Shepherd Parish in Monroeville.
The priests who lived in the rectory awoke to the smell of smoke and called 911 around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, according to a Facebook post from the church. The building is located at 245 Azalea Drive in Monroeville.
One priest, identified by the church in the Facebook post as the Rev. Jeremy Mohler, was taken to Forbes Hospital for evaluation after breathing in smoke. He has since been released, according to Jennifer Antkowiak, spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. The other priest living at the rectory was the Rev. Faustine Furaha, visiting from Tanzania.
The rectory and office building was extensively damaged by the fire, with a hole and collapse in the roof on one side. The fire did not appear to have made it to any other buildings, including the St. Bernadette church building.
Antkowiak said the cause is being investigated by the Allegheny County Fire Marshall.
Mass will still be held St. Bernadette Friday morning, as well as this weekend, the church’s post said. Vacation Bible School will still proceed as planned next week.
“It’ll take a lot more than a fire to stop this parish from living its mission,” the post said.
Bishop David Zubik is out of town but was informed of the fire, according to Antkowiak.
“He expressed his gratitude to the first responders and to God that nobody was seriously hurt,” said Antkowiak.
Laraine Hlatky, who lives across the street from the church, was awoken early Thursday morning by the lights outside as fire departments responded.
“I looked out my window, and I had no idea what was going on,” she said. “The street was lit up like a Christmas tree.”
Brothers Jeff and Davy Bennett live down the street from the church and saw the smoke overnight through their window.
Flames were coming up and out of the office and rectory building, and there was a hole in the roof when they both walked outside to look, they said.
Julia Maruca is a TribLive reporter covering health and the Greensburg and Hempfield areas. She joined the Trib in 2022 after working at the Butler Eagle covering southwestern Butler County. She can be reached at jmaruca@triblive.com.