No cause yet in St. Mary Magdalen blaze

KENTWOOD, Mich. (WOOD) - After a massive fire destroyed St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Kentwood early Sunday, crews picked through what was left to salvage what they could.

It was an especially emotional effort for artist Maria Orr.

A few years ago church leaders gave the artist -- and long-time parishioner -- the job of creating stained glass windows for the church.

Orr used illustrations to tell the story of the sinners who became saints.

"These were the penitent saints, so they had done wrong in their lives but had reformed their lives," she told 24 Hour News 8 as she described photos of some of the artwork lost in the blaze.

Orr used photos of loved ones to depict the saints, including "my mom, who passed away two months after I started painting. So that meant a lot to me."

"I used my dad as a model too. I found his face in there. It's all covered in soot."

Investigators said a roof fan and an air conditioning unit are the only possible mechanical causes to fire, which caused between $5 million to $6 million in damage.

Church fires are notorious for being stubborn to put out and dangerous to fight.

"You're looking at a lot of lacquer, a lot of wood products on the interior of this building," said Kentwood Fire Chief Brent Looman. "And once it gets into that area, without fire sprinklers to stop it, it's going to be very difficult."

And it's a strong possibility fireworks may have sparked the fire.

There were a barrage of fireworks lit off in the neighborhood Saturday night and Sunday morning. Evidence of one of those devices was found on a ball diamond behind the church, just yards from the section of roof where the fire started.

No one saw the fire until a Kentwood police officer on patrol spotted the flames.

Investigators believe phone lines from the church were burned through before the alarm system could send out a signal to the fire department.

The roof on the church has a rubber surface, and under that are layers of foam and a metal base.

It's possible something hot could have landed on the roof, burned through the dried-out rubber and caught the foam on fire, which spread quickly.

Kentwood detectives spent the afternoon questioning neighbors who may have seen someone lighting fireworks near the church.

But with so much activity over the weekend, if the blaze was sparked by a firework finding out who shot it may not be easy.

"It will be difficult unless we have some input from the public, maybe a witness that actually saw this occur. That will be the best way to go," Looman said.

As salvage efforts continue, Maria Orr's hoping the stained glass she saved from the ashes will be part of St. Mary Magdalen's future.

"Maybe get them framed or something. Maybe we get them to hang in a part of the new church. They'd just be a remembrance of what we had."

Church leaders gathered Monday to figure what's next for the parish, and said they'll have an announcement sometime Tuesday.

A prayer service will be held at the church parking lot at 7 p.m. Tuesday.