Cause of St. Alphonsus church fire undetermined, but not arson

1:47 p.m. CST, January 4, 2012

WITI-TV, GREENDALE?

The State Fire Marshal's office says the cause of the fire at St. Alphonsus Church in Greendale is listed as undetermined. However, officials say it was not arson.

The fire broke out just after midnight on Christmas Day -- a little more than an hour of the parish's Christmas Eve mass. The fire was contained to a storage room. However, the church and classrooms in the attached school suffered smoke damage. Damage estimates have topped $300,000.

The church space is being cleaned and will not be reopened for eight to twelve weeks. Until then, all masses will be held in the church's community room.

Cleaning of the classrooms is expected to be complete on Thursday. If all goes as planned, students will be back in class on Friday.

Firefighters from eight separate departments worked on the scene for about eight hours. An estimated 50 to 60 firefighters worked to suppress the flames and smoke.

Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this developing story.

Source: http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-20120104-st-als-fire-latest,0,3260724.story?track=rss

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