A conflagration ripped through a historic church in Midtown Manhattan Sunday.
The fire started at the Serbian Orthodox Cathederal of St. Sava at 6:50 p.m., just hours after its members celebrated Orthodox Easter, according to the New York Daily News.
"It's very sad today," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro told the New York Daily News. "Easter is the holiest day of the year for Christians. Today is Orthodox Easter and today people worshiped here this morning."
Flames bit through the roof as crews with the FDNY battled the four alarm fire, officials said.
A caretaker for the church ran inside to try to stop the fire but suffered minor smoke inhalation and needed to be rescued, according to New York Daily News.
Architect Richard Upjohn designed the building in the English Gothic Revival style in 1850, according to the Daily News. It was originally built as the Trinity Chapel, an offshoot of Trinity Church. The Serbian Orthodox Church bought the building in 1945. The city declared it a landmark in 1968.
"The good news is no one has been injured. There's no one reported missing," Nigro told the Daily News. "The bad news is this church has been destroyed by fire."
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