Small Sacristy Fire Interrupts Monday Evening Mass at St. Francis Xavier [HN Photos]
HYANNIS, MASSACHUSETTS — Parishioners gathered for Monday evening Mass at Saint Francis Xavier were forced to leave the church after smoke began filling the building.
One parishioner said she first wondered whether the smoke was from ceremonial incense. That impression ended when a man told everyone to evacuate.
The fire was not large. It began in a wastebasket kept below a sink in the sacristy, the room directly behind the altar where clergy and altar servers prepare sacred items for the liturgy.
Hyannis firefighters and Barnstable police arrived within seconds. They removed the burned, already extinguished wastebasket to the parking lot, checked for any extension of the fire, and used large fans to ventilate the church and adjoining sacristy.
The small fire appears to have been accidentally started by a discarded match.
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