A four-alarm fire brought 75 percent of Rochester's on-duty firefighters — plus two companies from Monroe County — to the scene as flames engulfed a church on Christmas night.
Fire crews were called to the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Jefferson Avenue just before 6 p.m. and found heavy smoke from the large church.
The church's pastor told RochesterFirst.com that the last person to leave the church following Christmas mass was around 1:30 p.m.
Firefighters called a second alarm shortly after they arrived and transitioned to a defensive attack when parts of the ceiling began falling from the ceiling.
The third and fourth alarms brought three-quarters of the city firefighter's to the scene, plus firefighters from the Gates and Ridge Road fire districts.
