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St. John the Baptist Church in Maria Stein lies in ruin following a massive fire Thursday afternoon. Crews were able to remove the three church bells, together weighing about 3,000 pounds, on Friday.
MARIA STEIN - The site of St. John the Baptist Church was abuzz with activity as PSC Crane & Rigging worked throughout the afternoon and evening Friday to successfully remove the church's three bells, together believed to weigh 3,000 pounds.
With the enormous bells no longer posing a threat to life or property, various crews are now one step closer to gaining access to the interior of the flame-ravaged structure to salvage sacred objects and further an investigation into the Thursday afternoon inferno that wreaked massive damage to what The Most Rev. Dennis Schnurr, the archbishop emeritus of Cincinnati, once called "the mother church - the oldest parish in Mercer County."
In addition to crews associated with two cranes, about 18 Chickasaw firefighters were on scene Friday as a precautionary measure amid the major bell-removal operation.
"We're still waiting on building approval, see if it's safe to make entry," Chickasaw Fire Chief Joe Hartings told The Daily Standard. "We were concerned about these bells just falling through the floor up there, so we needed to remove them first before … any other investigation, to deem the building safe."
Once the all-clear is given, First On Site will move into the church. First On Site is a company specializing in church restoration after fires and other kinds of tragic events, according to The Rev. Ken Schnipke, pastor of the Christ Our Light Family of Parishes, which includes St. John.
"They'll be going in and making all the assessments and removing everything and going from there," Hartings said.
Hartings said there were no other updates about the fire as of Friday evening, including how it started.
Ohio Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon, when contacted by the newspaper, said he's not sure at this time when the church will be cleared for entry. He also didn't know how long the investigation into the fire may take, noting "it's hard to pin things down to the exact source."
"The fire's still under investigation. There's really no further updates right now," he said.
Multiple fire departments and organizations descended on the site on Thursday, including the state's fire marshal's office, insurance representatives, structural engineers, restoration specialists and First On Site, Schnipke said during a special Mass held at Precious Blood Church in Chickasaw Friday morning.
The Rev. Ken Schnipke chats with Archbishop Robert G. Casey following Mass.
Schnipke during the Mass homily said he arrived at St. John the Baptist Church at about 2:45 p.m. Thursday to find the roof almost fully engulfed in flames and smoke.
"The roof is completely gone, with the remaining debris laying inside," he said. "The fire department sprayed a lot of water, about 4 or 5 feet in the basement and 3 or 4 feet in the rectory basement. They sprayed it on the church, including the steeple and the spire above but could not get to the smoldering embers underneath the slate."
At a little after 7 p.m. the spire tilted toward the south and came crashing down in front of the church. Due to the uncertainty of the integrity of the remaining walls, it was not safe for fire personnel to enter, Schnipke said.
"Drones provided some images of the St. Joseph statue, the stations on the walls and some of the walls with the white paint still showing, the cross in the back of the church and parts of the organ and choir loft," he said.
The damage is severe, but restoration specialists are hopeful that more may be salvaged than what appears, Schnipke offered in a gesture of light for parishioners.
The way in which the church roof collapsed inside and the spire tilted south suggested the integrity of the remaining walls may not have been compromised.
The key to salvage and restoration, he said, is to act quickly.
The roof of St. John the Baptist Church in Maria Stein collapsed to the floor during the fire. Crews were able to remove the three church bells, together weighing about 3,000 pounds, on Friday.
First On Site mobilized on church grounds at about 9 p.m. Thursday and set up a fencing to secure the area. Once given the go-ahead, the specialists will move in to salvage and clean what they can, Schnipke said.
Schnipke asked the community to allow the specialists to do their work, as they know what to look for and how best to get at it and ultimately preserve it. A few parishioners familiar with the location of objects in the church will help guide their efforts.
"It will be a long and difficult process, but I am also convinced that nothing is impossible with God, that we have the right people in place to assess the damage, discern what we need to do and to put that into action," he said.
Multiple first responders and firefighters from three counties mustered all their strength and diligence over the course of several hours to try to save what they could of a historic church that serves as the spiritual and cultural center to many in the Marion Catholic Community.
Schnipke hailed their heroic efforts to battle the conflagration in the face of grave danger and also expressed gratitude to Hartings for coordinating the unified endeavor.
So, too, did the state fire marshal.
"I think it's safe to say they're very tired," Reardon said when asked how the men and women are holding up. "We have a very, very strong volunteer fire department presence in northwest Ohio. We do because there's just so many communities that are spread out and they're rural."
Reardon also pointed to other unique circumstances.
"The other issue is there's no water at that church, there's no fire hydrants out there," he said. "They had to bring water tankers in to bring all that water to put out that fire. So that's another concern."
Hartings said he was proud of how the firefighters from several departments responded to the difficult fire.
"We had an outstanding crew out here," Hartings told the newspaper. "It took every one of them to do what we did."
He also was appreciative of the community for their part in keeping firefighters fed and hydrated.
"They were outstanding. We had plenty of food, plenty of water. It was amazing to see the turnout that we had," Hartings said.
Reardon said he didn't want to take away from the tragedy of the flame-devastated church, but said he felt it's appropriate to issue a call for volunteerism, as fire departments across the region, state and country are suffering from a dire lack of personnel.
"I think you had over 20 fire departments there yet last night, so that depleted a lot of area resources, and a lot of it is staffing, manpower, getting people there," he said in an impassioned plea for volunteers to step forward. "Any part of Ohio that has a volunteer fire department should not expect a five-minute response time. … When you get away from the urban areas, volunteers are the backbone of the fire service in Ohio. They're the backbone of emergency response."
