The FDNY and NYPD are coordinating on an investigation of last month’s massive fire at a historic Brooklyn church as an arson incident, FDNY sources said Saturday.
A person of interest was seen fleeing from the South Bushwick Reformed Church moments before the blaze broke out on June 19 around 1:20 p.m. on Bushwick Ave. near Himrod St. in Bushwick, sources said.
No one has been arrested.
The fire quickly escalated to three alarms, bringing nearly 200 firefighters and EMS rushing to the scene. Videos and photos on social media showed flames and clouds of dark smoke billowing from the steeple, which quickly collapsed around 20 later, according to a witness who posted on X.
The church was unoccupied at the time, according to the FDNY.
Firefighters brought the flames under control by 3:35 p.m.
The city’s Department of Buildings subsequently issued a full vacate order for the severely fire-damaged church and ordered its owners to install a construction fence around the property for public safety.
Days after the fire, the church created a GoFundMe in hopes of resurrecting their home and keeping their congregation going in the meantime. The funding, they said, would be used to support a temporary worship space, replace the church’s damaged equipment and furnishings, run community outreach ministries, conduct architectural and engineering assessments, and restore and rebuild the nearly 175-year-old house of worship.
“While we are grateful that no lives were lost, the loss of our worship space and ministry center has deeply impacted our congregation and neighborhood,” the church said on its GoFundMe.
The church had raised more than $14,000 as of Saturday afternoon.
Church leaders met with the city Department of Buildings on June 26 requesting the emergency demolition order be put on hold. The church hopes to preserve its rectory and fellowship hall since, according to its structural engineer, those parts are still “structurally sound.”
The Bushwick church was built in 1853, but the congregation dates back to the Dutch colonial period in the 1600s, according to the National Fund for Sacred Spaces. It’s one of only eight surviving wooden houses of worship in New York City that are officially landmarked by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.