Late-night fire damages narthex at St. Lawrence Church

Father John Beitans, pastor of St. Lawrence Parish in Indianapolis, talks with Tony Camacho, a supervisor with ServiceMaster, on Nov. 4 about clean-up work under way in the St. Lawrence Church narthex after a late-night fire on All Souls Day caused by votive candles that melted and burned out of control.

By Mary Ann Wyand

Votive candles lit for All Souls Day on Nov. 2 started a late-night fire that damaged the narthex of St. Lawrence Church in Indianapolis.

Father John Beitans, the pastor, said on Nov. 4 that the church’s electronic fire alarm went off at 1:06 a.m. on Nov. 3 and automatically notified the Lawrence Fire Department as well as the security company that monitors the system.

Firefighters arrived within 10 minutes and extinguished the blaze, he said, which was limited to the gathering space at the front entrance of the 21-year-old church.

Michael Witka, director of Risk Management for the archdiocese, estimated that fire damage to the church may total $200,000. The parish has a $3,000 insurance deductible.

“This is the third major fire [involving Church property] in the archdiocese in the past 12 months,” Witka said. “The archdiocesan property insurance program written through the London market and placed by Arthur J. Gallagher Co., our insurance brokers in Chicago, will respond as they have to the two previous fires.”

Witka said he was notified about the fire by John Tarbox, the business manager for the parish, and Jerry Pachciarz, the loss control specialist for Gallagher Bassett Services Inc.

“I am glad that Jerry [Pachciarz] responded so quickly with the ordering of the fire damage clean-up through a fire restoration contractor,” Witka said. “We will follow through with other contractors to verify the extent of the claim.”

The fire started when bent wicks melted plastic candle holders.

“Apparently, two candle wicks leaned over … and the plastic holders caught on fire,” Father Beitans said. “The wax and plastic dripped onto the wooden table then the table burned and collapsed on the slate floor. The heat shattered the ­

etched-glass window and the wooden window frame was burned.”

The fire also melted several electrical lights mounted on the ceiling and damaged fiber ceiling panels. There is smoke and soot damage in the semicircular gathering space, and some water damage.

“We had put out hundreds of votive lights to be lit for All Souls Day to represent all the departed souls,” Father Beitans said. “The last Mass was at 8 p.m., and everything seemed fine when the church was locked on Friday night.”

The votive candles are manufactured to burn quickly then go out when the wax is gone, he said, but the wicks must be straight when the candles are lit.

Father Beitans said he believes the new fire-retardant carpeting installed in the narthex several months ago prevented the blaze from spreading throughout the church.

Interior doors between the narthex and fan-shaped worship space were closed, he said, and also helped prevent the fire from spreading there.

ServiceMaster employees arrived when the firefighters were leaving in the early morning hours on Saturday, he said. They covered the broken glass doors with plywood and worked in shifts all weekend to clean the fire-damaged gathering space and air out the smoke in the church.

“We’re so grateful to God that it wasn’t much worse,” Father Beitans said. “It’s a setback, and it certainly saddens us. It touched me when I watched parishioners looking into the narthex this weekend, and they were moved to tears. They started to cry when they saw the charred wood and damaged ceiling. That showed me how much we all love our church.”

He hopes other faith communities will learn from this loss and make sure all candle wicks are straight.

“Votive candles are traditionally left burning until they burn out on their own,” Father Beitans said. “It’s a traditional Church practice. We weren’t doing anything creative. We were using the company’s product exactly the way it is recommended for use. Our sacristans automatically straighten the wicks on the candles [in glass containers] in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.”

But some of the wicks in the special votive lights were bent, and hours later the tiny candle flames burned out of control.

Black soot covered the walls, ceiling and carpeting in the narthex, but a statue of St. Lawrence, a painting of the late Pope John Paul II and a poster decorated with pictures of parishioners who serve in the armed forces were not damaged in the fire.

Power was turned off after the fire, Father Beitans said, but the wiring was inspected by Indianapolis Power and Light Company officials on Nov. 3 then electrical service was restored to the church.

Last weekend, Masses for the

1,185-household parish founded in 1949 were held in the basement of Father Conen Hall, the former church building, which now serves as the St. Lawrence School cafeteria.

Weekend Masses are offered at 5 p.m. on Saturday and at 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. on Sunday.

It may be four to six weeks before all the repairs are completed in the church, Father Beitans said, so many activities scheduled there will be held elsewhere on the parish campus at 6944 E. 46th St.

He said a performance by Sisterhood Christian Drama Ministry, which is scheduled at 7 p.m. on Nov. 9, will be held at Father Conen Hall instead of at the church.

Parishioners Lisa Winbush, who was recently elected president of the Parish Council; Matthew Hickey, a firefighter; and James Fernandez, who works for the alarm company, joined Father Beitans outside the church in the middle of the night to offer their help and support.

Parish Council members met early on Nov. 3 to discuss insurance details then plan and implement the relocation of liturgies from the church to the school cafeteria.

Father Beitans said the spirit of St. Lawrence parishioners is wonderful and the people will do “whatever it takes” to complete the church renovations already under way before the fire as well as remodel Father Conen Hall and Father Beechum Gymnasium.

“By the end of this coming summer,” he said, “we’ll be celebrating a whole renewed parish facility.” †