ATHOL — The “overwhelming” smell of smoke from the two simultaneous arson fires that occurred at Our Lady Immaculate Church last month is gone.
“Now you can go in and breathe,” said the Rev. Edwin Montana.
Rev. Montana said Sunday Masses will continue to be held in the St. Francis Church while they wait to hear from the Worcester Diocese, which handles insurance for all its churches. The Our Lady Immaculate Church basement, where two fires were allegedly set by 21-year old Trevor J. DeFrancesco, a homeless man, is being professionally cleaned and decontaminated by Trauma Services of Mansfield.
Montana said he is “very pleased” with the cleaning company which is giving the church a thorough cleaning, “corner by corner, pew by pew.” Some items were disposed of, mostly because of their porous material, and “every item from closet to chalice” has been tested and assessed to see if any hazardous material was absorbed.
Michael Morse, Trauma Services’ onsite supervisor, said “we’re cleaning everything, from top to bottom.”
The upbeat priest said he told his Our Lady Immaculate parishioners, “now we will have an immaculate church.”
Rev. Montana said the smoke-damaged basement must be reconstructed and fire-damaged joists that support the sanctuary floor must be replaced. “The building is safe, but our priority is to make sure we can go back into the church.” He said they also have to make sure the boilers and heating systems are working properly.
He said at this point he doesn’t know how the basement is going to be reconstructed, but the church is considering relocating the food pantry from the rectory basement to the church basement which has better accessibility.
A portion of the church basement has been a meeting place for Alcoholics Anonymous 30 years, and has also served as a chamber for the Knights of Columbus ministry. Rev. Montana said the church’s own ministries are a priority and they could use another room “to continue to enrich our programs.”
He said the church won’t be ready for Christmas services, but he anticipates they’ll be able to return toward the end of January. He said he is very grateful to the people of St. Francis Church who have been “very hospitable and welcoming. They have been very good to us.”
He said if it wasn’t for a water pipe that broke above one of the fires, helping to control it, “things could have been worse,” calling it “a miracle” because to his knowledge, there was no previous evidence of a leak in the pipe.
Reach Kathy Chaisson at
978-249-6535, ext. 656 or kchaisson@atholdailynews.com.