Fire destroys historic church next to the Cleveland Clinic

CLEVELAND (AP) — Fire has destroyed a historic church next to the Cleveland Clinic, which was forced to move about eight patients to safe locations.

One firefighter was treated for a minor eye injury from this morning’s fire at the Euclid Avenue Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ. Only the sandstone walls remained standing.

Larry Gray, fire department spokesman, says the first call came shortly after midnight during a lightning storm. The fire’s cause has not been determined.

The clinic says smoke entered two of its buildings through air vents but did not harm anyone.

The church was founded in 1843, according to the "Encyclopedia of Cleveland History," and the Romanesque style building was dedicated in 1887.