Sanctuary Burns

AMARILLO -- A Monday morning fire left a St. Mary`s Church in Amarillo church without a sanctuary. Firefighters don`t know what started it yet. The Amarillo Fire Department was called out to a large fire at St. Mary`s Church about 4 a.m. Monday. "We did try an interior attack for a while. But when we had so much trouble getting to the seed of the fire and then it broke through the roof, and we become defensive," said Captain Bob Johnson. Within the hour, the roof collapsed. "I feel really sad. But in a way, it all happens for a reason. Monsignor will take care of everything. He`s very good at this part of his job. And he`ll guide us through this no doubt in my mind," said church member Dottie Lopez. Nobody was hurt. "Our church was a beautiful sanctuary building. But we are the church. And the members of this parish will be just fine. We will rebuild," said St. Mary`s Monsignor Harold Waldow. A big reason why church fires are so hard to contain is the size of the rooms. St. Mary`s became a parish 55 years ago. About 2,000 people attend services at the church. The nearby school wasn`t damaged in the fire.