An historic Catholic Church in St. Anthony was heavily damaged this morning by fire. The firefighters responded to the call around 6 AM this morning….with firefighters from Clemons, State Center, Albion, Mc Callsburg, Zearing, Colo and Nevada responding. Jack Mackin, owner of Mackin Elevator, one block from the church, described what he saw this morning.
Mackin says the fire truck was already there when he got there, which was sometime prior to 7 A.M. He says the sacristy on the southwest side was on fire and firefighters "were doing a good job of getting that knocked down." Mackin says the firefighters were assisted by people from the area who heard about the fire.
He says farmers brought water tanks to town until the other fire departments were able to get water tankers to the fire. Parishioners had recently celebrated the centennial of the Sacred Heart Church. That had replaced the original church which was destroyed by fire in 1900. The Sacred Heart Catholic Church served about 30 families . The cause of the fire remains is not yet known.