Fire Destroys Historic St. Leo's Church In Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA — St. Leo's Catholic Church in Philadelphia's Tacony neighborhood sustained significant damage in a massive fire that erupted there late Sunday afternoon.

The historic stone structure on Keystone Street and Unruh Avenue has been vacant for several years, with no injuries reported from the fire. In a little more than an hour it had all been destroyed, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, with the roof collapsed, the inside gutted and only the stone walls remaining.

About 100 Philadelphia firefighters were called to the scene on Keystone Street for the fire that reached two alarms, the Philadelphia Fire Department tweeted.

Photos from the scene show significant smoke damage as several fire hoses ripped through the church's windows to put out the blaze.

Flames and dark smoke were flowing out of the 19th-century building as traffic slowed on the overlooking Interstate 95 by gawkers who stopped to get a look at the St. Leo's fire, according to the Inquirer.

This fire at St. Leo’s Church in Tacony is now at two alarms, which brings about 100 PFD members and 45 apparatus to the scene. Please avoid the area. pic.twitter.com/T6DxSuwcBS
— Philadelphia Fire (@PhillyFireDept) May 9, 2021

St. Leo's was closed by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2013, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The building remained on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places after its closing.

The flames were under control by 7 p.m., NBC-Philadelphia reported, an hour-and-a-half after the first fire truck responded.