Motherhouse chapel damaged in blaze

By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
PULASKI, Pa. -- The crackle of breaking glass made Sister Joann Gardner cringe.
"That's stained glass," she said.
Sister Joann and other members of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary stood watching smoke billow out of the chapel of their religious order's motherhouse on the grounds of Villa Maria in Pulaski Township.
The Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal was to be called in today to investigate the cause of blaze, which appears to be accidental, said Robert Taylor, Pulaski Township fire chief.
No damage estimate was available.
Saw smoke
Housekeepers cleaning the Magnificat Chapel noticed smoke around 2 p.m. and called for help. One nun praying in the east side of the chapel was removed from the area by the housekeepers, said Sister Maryann Golonka, administrator of Villa Maria Community Center.
Sister Joann said 60 members of the religious order and about 40 elderly men and women who live in senior-citizen housing on the grounds were expected in the chapel at 3 p.m. for Mass. That service was moved to a different location on the campus as firefighters from six companies battled the blaze.
The chapel was built in 1963, she said.
Large clouds of dark smoke came out of the west side of the chapel's copper roof.
Taylor said firefighters had a tough time locating smoldering spots and had to take away part of the roof and break some of the stained-glass windows to fight the fire. A 40-foot section of the roof was damaged by the blaze, he said.
The fire chief said the blaze began in a section of the roof where workers were making repairs. It was unclear Wednesday what sparked the flames, he said.
Sister Maryann said the workers were not on the roof when the housekeepers first detected the smoke, but the roof workers did try to battle it with fire extinguishers before firefighters arrived. She said they went through 10 extinguishers.
Heat problems
Taylor said the biggest problem firefighters faced was the near-90-degree heat. Noga Ambulance personnel and the American Red Cross supplied cold water and wet towels to keep them cool.
Two buses from the New Castle Area School District also were brought to serve as a cool place for firefighters to rest.
The volunteer fire departments of Pulaski, Mahoning, Poland, Coitsville, Neshannock and New Wilmington responded to the blaze.
This is the second blaze at the Villa in less than a year. In November, a fire destroyed a new garage that had been built on the grounds. It was determined that a space heater caused that blaze.
cioffi@vindy.com