Passerby’s actions saves Atherton church from fire

QUICK action by a passerby has saved Saint Jospeh’s Church in Atherton from being destroyed by fire.

By Robyn Holmes

The organ inside Saint Joseph’s Church at Atherton was destroyed after arsonists started a fire in the building on 11 November.

Police are investigating the arson attack on 11 November which destroyed the church’s organ and charred several bench seats but it could have been a lot worse if not for the actions of a man who was just passing by the building and noticed the blaze around 7.30pm.

Using his own fire extinguisher he had in his vehicle, the man managed to fight the fire and also called 000.

Parish administration officer Rhiana Meaney said the church was beyond grateful to the person.

“The Atherton Catholic Parish is very grateful that they took the initiative to put the fire out when they saw it, otherwise it could have been completely destroyed,” she said.

“It is very shocking to the parish community that someone would cause so much unwarranted damage to our place of worship, however as Fr Mathew said in his homily after the incident, ‘Church is in our hearts, not in a building’.

“As sad and disheartening as this is, the parish community will continue to worship and pray together and will continue to work together to rebuild our church to its former glory for the future generations of our church community.”

The church is now working with police to determine who committed the act.

“Because of the smell of fuel and fire extinguisher dust in the church, we are unable to use it until insurance has a look,” Ms Meaney said.

With the church door now boarded shut because the culprits broke the lock to gain access, parishioners will move items to enable masses to be held on the St Joseph’s Parish School basketball court on Sundays, and weekdays in the Parish Centre, next door to the church.

Ms Meaney said the church was set to close on 20 November for up to six weeks so the ceiling of the building could be replaced, and they had factored in the need to be able to hold services in another area.

“We are awaiting the insurance assessor to take a look this week before we start moving furniture in preparation for the renovations to take place, which thankfully should still be able to go ahead as planned due to the damage from the fire not being structural,” she said.

“As this attack has happened only one week prior to the renovations starting, we have had to arrange so our masses happen in the Parish Centre or the school basketball court early,” she said.

She said the church was now awaiting the outcome of its insurance claim to ascertain what the repair bill will be and whether they may have to appeal the community to help.