Fire Leaves Slight Damage To St. Francis Xavier, Poseyville

A morning fire on Aug. 8 slightly damaged the back roof and sacristy ceiling of St. Francis Xavier Church in Poseyville. An electrical transformer mounted on a pole adjacent to the back of the church appeared to have suffered a catastrophic failure around 9 a.m. that morning, sparking a fire whose flames spread to the back of St. Francis Xavier.

Pastor Father Ed Schnur told The Message that 35-40 volunteers arrived on the scene quickly to assist local fire departments in moving vestments and other sacred items away from potential damage from flames, water and smoke. Firefighters got the blaze extinguished quickly, but they found themselves facing a possible contamination scenario.

Three transformers mounted on the pole next to the church were old enough that the oil inside of them used for cooling could have contained harmful PCB. Samples of the oil, which spilled from the failed transformer at the back of the church, was immediately sent for testing.

Firefighters and others had to wait for those test results before they could begin mounting a cleanup effort. Fortunately, test results obtained within a few hours revealed no toxic level of PCB.

The sanctuary did not sustain fire or water damage, but smoke did makes its way into most of the church. Father Schnur told The Message on Aug. 10 that he will celebrate the 10 a.m. CT

Sunday Mass on Aug. 14 in the St. Francis Xavier Cafeteria.