BY COLE SINANIAN
cole@queensledger.com
ASTORIA — Six firefighters were injured and a historic church was left smoldering after a five-alarm fire tore through the First Reformed Church of Astoria Thursday evening.
The FDNY responded to a 6:46pm call on April 23 at the vacant church, located at 27-26 12th Street in Astoria. The fire began in the rectory building and by 6:55pm had spread to the church’s main portion. By the time the fire was under control at 10:36pm, more than 270 fire and EMS personnel had arrived on scene.
According to FDNY Chief of Fire Operations Kevin Woods, firefighters attacked the blaze from the outside due to the more than 100-year-old building’s poor structural integrity. One firefighter was injured by a falling wbrick after a portion of the structure collapsed, and was treated on scene by EMS medics. Another five firefighters were transported to area hospitals with non life-threatening injuries, Woods said.
“Once the fire gets into these old churches, behind the walls and into the roof space, it’s very difficult to extinguish, and there’s a major collapse danger to our members,” Woods said at a press conference.
Local school bus driver and Greater Astoria Historical Society board member Alan Arichavala arrived on scene as firefighters were getting the blaze under control. Dozens of neighbors had come out from their homes to watch the beloved building engulfed in flames. Although vacant since 2020, the church is an increasingly rare example of Victorian architecture in Astoria, Arichavala said, and has been loved by locals for its beauty and historical significance.
“There were a lot of people coming in, and they were just horrified,” he said during an April 26 interview near the church. “They love this church. They always walked by and they always said, ‘this is a beautiful church,’ so when you see it up in flames— it’s beautiful Victorian architecture— you’re just like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s heartbreaking.’”
First built in 1835, the original Reformed Church of Astoria burnt down and was replaced by the current structure in 1888. The church’s yard is the burial site of several noteworthy Astorians, including 19th-century fur trader and “Father of Astoria,” Stephen Halsey.
“This was a church where a lot of Astoria’s leading families would come and worship, to the point that a lot of them were buried here,” Arichavala said.
Arichavala keeps tabs on the church as part of his work with the historical society. He said that leading up to the fire the building had been plagued by a raccoon infestation and frequent visits from a group of roaming teenagers, who’d break into the rectory and post “urban exploration” videos on YouTube.
In one, posted on March 1 by an account called UrbanFlocca, the person filming enters the open rectory basement via a side gate to the backyard, before ascending to the worship room, where the now-destroyed stained glass windows can be seen above rows of empty pews and peeling white paint.
“Heads up chat if yall want to explore this be careful this shit mad leaky everywhere,” reads a message over the footage in white lettering.
Former pastor Kevin Harris, who lives across the street from the church, has also kept an eye on the building since it was abandoned in 2020. He described seeing frequently unlocked gates and groups of young people on CitiBikes riding up the street on the day of the fire.
“What happened was kids were coming in and out since February,” Harris said. “The people who were in charge never locked all the doors.”
Harris said he saw a group of seven or so teenagers biking past the church as it burned, gesturing in ways that made him suspect they had been involved.
“You know how you can watch somebody’s actions to tell,” Harris said. “But the way they hyped up when they came up here, they kept looking over their shoulder.”
The apartment building next door to the church, meanwhile — 27-32 12th Street — had a posted vacate order from the Department of Buildings. According to social media posts from the Astoria Tenant Union, the lower floors received catastrophic water damage as a result of the fire. A family with a young child had lived in the building and have since been left without a home.
As of April 27, an online crowdfunding campaign to help the family has raised $2,684. To donate, head to https://chuffed.org/project/
