PHOTOS/VIDEOS: A six-alarm fire tore through a historic, 128-year-old Reformed church in the East Village early Saturday morning.
Firefighters rushed to Middle Collegiate Church on East 7th Street and Second Avenue following reports of a fire at an empty, nearby building—48 East 7th Street—that began just before 5 a.m., FDNY told Gothamist. The fire soon spread to the church, triggering more alarms. A total of nearly 200 firefighters from 44 units had converged on the scene. Crews battled the large blaze under a steady rain, with fire trucks extending to the top of the church, with water hoses cutting through the church's steeple. FDNY said four firefighters were injured battling the blaze. No civilians have been reported injured. "We are going to be operating here for a while. The fire is under investigation by our marshals,” FDNY Assistant Chief John Hodgens said from the scene of the fire, according to a post on the FDNY's Facebook page.