170-year-old Pennsylvania church destroyed in Tioga County fire

MANSFIELD, Pa. ( WETM ) — The remnants of a small Baptist church in Tioga County, Pa. were seen from the roadway on Thursday after a devastating fire on Wednesday.

According to an 18 News reporter at the scene of the fire on Thursday, the Cherry Flats Baptist Church sign and steeple are among the few items that remain from the 170-year-old structure after it caught fire from a neighboring garage on Wednesday.

Homeowner Melissa Bolt reported that a fire started inside her garage on Wednesday, July 24, sometime in the afternoon and got out of control, eventually spreading to the church building before fire crews arrived.

“I was at work and my notifications on my phone kept going off for my security cameras here, so I happened to look at my phone and saw flames coming out of our garage,” Bolt said.

She said she wasn’t sure if it was just the garage on fire or if her house was too, but she told 18 News she hurried home, but said the garage was engulfed when she arrived.

Bolt commended her neighbors for spraying her house with a hose to keep it from burning while another neighbor rescued her animals out of the house just in case.

The direction of the fire shifted as the garage became more involved, with the church facing more danger.

In 15 minutes Bolt said was enough time for the garage and church to be engulfed and considered a loss. A spot of good news is that Bolt said no people or pets were injured by the fire.

Bolt told 18 News she spoke with the pastor and said that the oldest part of the church was around 170 years old, but the bell and steeple were saved after the demolition.

It’s unknown if the church will be rebuilt or not.

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