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Montclair firefighters rushed to Grove Street and Tuxedo Road at 8 a.m. and found the fire reaching from the basement to the roofline at the back of the church, Deputy Chief Robert Duncan said. The roof collapsed about a half hour after the blaze started, according to witnesses on scene.
It took multiple hoselines and master streams to bring the fire under control at 11 a.m., Duncan said. Four firefighters suffered minor injuries and were treated and released from a nearby hospital, Duncan said. No one was inside of the church at the time of the blaze and no civilians were injured, Duncan said.
Grace Presbyterian boasts more than 500 congregants from Montclair and surrounding areas, according to its website.
"Please send light and love to our firefighters and prayers that this spectacular structure — one of my favorite buildings in Montclair can be saved," Peter Yacobellis, Montclair councilor-at-large wrote in a Facebook post.
Pastor Greg Horn of the Presbyterian Church of Upper Montclair said it "looks to be a total loss."
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