Josie Boyd was driving home after an afternoon of shopping when she noticed the sky above her Indiana Township neighborhood turning dark.

“All these fire trucks started racing past,” Boyd said. “I could see smoke filling the air.”

A few blocks from her home, firefighters from multiple companies were battling a fire at Trinity United Church of Christ along Saxonburg Boulevard.

The blaze was reported shortly after 3 p.m. and appeared to have started in the rear of the church and spread. A section of roof collapsed, forcing firefighters to evacuate the building and use a ladder truck to put hoses into the church’s bell tower.

No one was injured.

More than three dozen firefighters scattered across the church property, which is not far from Dorseyville Middle School and Hartwood Elementary.

“This is really sad,” resident Mary Ann Cooper said.

She previously taught preschool in the church basement and said she can set her clock by the church bells that ring several times a day.

“From the time I was a small child, I loved hearing the bells,” she said.

The Rev. David Mears said Trinity is celebrating its 175th year, though the church was constructed 150 years ago.

“We’re still here,” Mears said, fighting back tears. “The building we will grieve, but we will find a way to rebuild.”

The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Officer is investigating the cause.

Mears was the only person in the church Wednesday afternoon.

“I smelled something that didn’t seem right,” he said. “I called the maintenance man, and he agreed.”

The pair poked around and found flames coming from the rear attic of the building.

Mears said initial reports indicate the church sustained heavy damage but the adjoining Sunday school building, made of brick and erected in 1957, was largely spared.

“At least that’s some good news,” Mears said. “We will have someplace to meet.”

Among the crews that responded to the fire were West Deer No. 2, West Deer No. 3, Rural Ridge, Allegheny Valley, Hampton, Dorseyville, Oakmont and West Deer EMS.

Trinity has a storied history in the township. It was founded in 1851 on a 50-square-foot lot at the intersection of Saxonburg Boulevard and Route 910. German settlers bought the land for $2 and built a log cabin for weekly worship.

In May 1876, the congregation purchased an acre of land for $300, which was just a stone’s throw away, and the current site was erected at 3712 Saxonburg Blvd., near the township’s municipal complex.

In recent years, the church was known throughout the Lower Valley for its annual Strawberry Festival.

In-person services are at 10:30 a.m. and are streamed on Facebook and YouTube.