An early-morning fire tears through an historic church in Little Italy that is the home of the yearly San Gennaro Festival.
The Most Precious Blood Church is as much a part of Little Italy as cappuccinos and canolis. Last night, around 1:00 a.m. a fire broke out in the rectory section of this church. Officials believe a heater sparked this fire on the second floor and firefighters were on the scene very quickly. They managed to knock it down very quickly in about 30 minutes.
This was a good thing because the church portion was actually behind the rectory building. It is also wedged between two restaurants. It is a very tight fit and they had to work hard to keep this fire from spreading. At this point, they do not know the exact cause of fire. They do suspect that the heater was not suspicious in anyway.
There were no injuries from this fire. The Most Precious Blood Church is where the statue of San Gennaro is held and then during the annual festival it is carried down Mulberry Street as part of the 11-day event in September.
