Fire destroys Anglican church in Edmundston

From New Brunswick-

Fire destroyed an historic Anglican church over the weekend. Built in 1926, the combined St. John's Anglican and St. Paul's United Church on Rue de l’Eglise was listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.

The fire was called in to the Edmundston Fire Department at approximately 3:45 a.m. EST Saturday, Sept. 20, according to Edmundston North Fire Station Chief Rino Francoeur.

Approximately 35 firefighters responded, according to Francoeur. By Saturday afternoon, the fire was extinguished; however, the building was already a complete loss upon arrival of the fire department, according to the chief.

More here-

http://www.sjvalley-times.com/view/full_story/25816515/article-Fire-destroys-Anglican-church-in-Edmundston?instance=homefirstleft

When history becomes ashes

From Easton-

The crispy, hard, black ashes crunched against the blade of his shovel as Chuck Hughes dug deep into the remains of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Spring Hill near Hebron. He came to investigate, on behalf of an insurance company, the cause of the fire that, in less than two hours, turned the wooden building into smoke and charcoal.

In 120 minutes, a church built in 1773 was gone.

"Just think," Chuck said to me, "this church was here before there was our United States."

When I met Chuck at the site, I noticed it was less than 24 hours since Old Spring Hill, as it was also called, was standing. In just 24 hours a beautiful church was gone. The morning before, fire trucks, emergency personnel, bystanders and backed up traffic on a closed portion of the highway. Oddly, it was just Chuck and I standing in the ashes, alone, talking.

More here-

http://www.delmarvanow.com/story/maryland/2014/07/25/brice-stump-hebron/13155219/

Landmark Houma church is rebuilding

From Louisiana-

The Rev. Craig Dalferes led members of his congregation in prayer Friday on the church lawn, in the shadow of a white tent.

“Let the whole world know that things that were cast down will be raised up,” he said. “Things that are old are being made new.”

A year ago Friday, historic St. Matthew's Episcopal Church and part of its nearby school building burned to ash in a sudden midnight fire.

“It's weird to stand here where the church was for a service. It's sad,” Dalferes said, as children trooped out from the temporary buildings that house their classrooms. “But at the same time there is joy in it because of the opportunity to make things new.”

As the church remembers the tragedy, it is pushing toward the future.

“Obviously, we wish the church had never burned because of all the history and all the memories that were in it,” said Julie Steigner, who heads the committee raising money for the rebuilding. “But at the same time, this gives us an opportunity to make something new, something exciting.”

More here-

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20111112/ARTICLES/111119847

Bishop joins fire battle front

Among the strike team of 25 Country Fire Authority volunteers from Ballarat battling blazes in the Kinglake area during February's horrific bushfires was Michael Hough, the Anglican Bishop of Ballarat.

He keeps his CFA pager with him, day and night. Even on Sunday, he is on duty, joining a team dealing with local fires. Many, he said, have been caused by power line damage, setting grass alight.

“The contrasts and the extremes are extraordinary in Australia today,” he said. “I just received a phone call from the bishop of north Queensland, which has suffered severe flooding, and he is more concerned about crocodiles bumping into his front door.”

Bishop Hough, aged 56, is a member of the Wendouree brigade – appropriately named after the lake in central Ballarat that has dried up, to the extent that the CFA recently had to put out a fire there.

The strike team he joined to combat the Kinglake fires, contained five tankers each staffed by five fire-fighters. Their deployment meant the volunteers remaining in Ballarat were more likely to be called out to local blazes.

http://www.melbourne.anglican.com.au/main.php?pg=news&news_id=19466&s=157