Arson suspected at historic Whitby church
Gas canister found near 143-year-old building
Last Updated: Monday, December 14, 2009 | 9:06 PM ET
CBC News
Durham Region police suspect that a fire that consumed a historic church in Whitby, Ont., was set deliberately.
A fire at All Saints' Anglican Church on Monday might have been deliberately set, police say. (CBC) It took nearly 40 firefighters to contain the Monday morning fire at All Saints' Anglican Church at 300 Dundas St. W. in the town of roughly 120,000 about 50 kilometres northeast of Toronto.
Kenneth Davis, the church's pastor, described the damage he saw when he arrived at 5:30 a.m.
"The worship space's roof is completely burned through and open," he told CBC News.
Police called the fire "suspicious" and are treating the area as a crime scene. They are asking any witnesses to come forward to help with their investigation.
Police confirmed a gasoline canister was found outside the church. "At this point, we haven't made an actual determination that that has something to do with the fire," said Jamie Grant, a Durham police spokesman.
"One can speculate … there may be some connection."
It is not immediately clear whether the canister was empty or full.
Damage has been estimated at between $2 million and $3 million.
"There, thankfully, was no one in the building and so there was nothing going on that could cause us to imagine any accident or anything like that," Davis said.
Authorities are also concerned about the building's structural integrity. Even though that brick structure is in place, authorities are concerned if the building is strong enough support to support the steeple, which is made out of metal.
The fire burned through a section of the church's roof. (CBC) The CBC's Muhammad Lila, reporting from the scene, said "there's a bit of a danger here if the church turns out to be structurally unstable, they'll have to bring the steeple down."
The church has been a landmark in downtown Whitby, just east of Toronto, for more than 140 years.
The fire has done "a phenomenal amount of damage. We can only imagine what it looks like inside. It looks like the worship space is the place that has been involved and the north part of our building seems to have been spared, although of course there will be water and smoke damage," Davis said.
Community rallies to church's aid
Around 250 families that count All Saints' as their spiritual home will have to find another place to worship over Christmas. The fire has also put in doubt the Christmas Day plans for 90 needy families in the community.
"We had our hall filled with 90 Christmas hampers and gifts for 90 families that were to be delivered [Monday]. And I expect that we will not be able to get into that, nor will we be able to guarantee that any of it has been saved."
But the Salvation Army has said they will replace all the hampers that were destroyed in the fire.
"We certainly mourn and grieve for their loss, which is very real," said John Murray, a spokesman for the charity.
"Whatever was in those hampers .. .the Salvation Army will work with the church officials to make sure the baskets meet their requirements."
Bell Taxi, a local cab company, is also chipping in.
"All of our drivers have donation boxes in the trunk. So anybody taking the taxi can make a donation directly to the driver," said Blake Pelgrims, the general manager for Bell Taxi.
"All the drivers at the end of the day will bring the donations into our office, in which case we'll them ship them out to the storage area where they're keeping these items to get to the families."
All Saints' was completed in 1866, one year before Confederation, and has occupied a place of prominence in the community ever since.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and his wife, MPP Christine Elliott, were married at the church.
