A fire that damaged a Roman Catholic church in Franklin, Massachusetts, Wednesday is being investigated as a case of arson, state and local fire officials said Thursday.
Officials are offering up to $10,000 as a reward for information that helps the investigation into what started the blaze at St. Mary's Parish. Anyone with information was asked to call 1-800-682-9229.
The fire, reported about 5:45 p.m., led to the postponement of a service for a priest who recently died.
"Our parish has gone through a couple weeks of suffering," Rev. Bob Poitras said.
Staff at the church says it will be about a month before services can take place at St. Mary's again, though other parishes are offering help.
"Houses of worship play a vital role in every community, and our hearts go out to everyone who made St. Mary's a part of their lives," Franklin Fire Chief James McLaughlin said in a statement. "We're deeply relieved that no one was injured and that firefighters were able to contain the fire damage."
The blaze was set in the rear sacristy and quickly put out, the department has previously said, but there was a significant amount of smoke throughout the church. Firefighters remained on scene to ventilate the building.
The determination that the fire was intentionally set was made following an examination of the scene, interviews with witnesses and other evidence gathered Wednesday and Thursday, the officials said. State and local police were investigating, along with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The ATF is matching Massachusetts' $5,000 offer for information about the crime, making the total reward up to $10,000.
Inside on Thursday, we saw charred furniture, broken items and smoke and fire damage on the walls.
A prayer vigil for Reverend John Sullivan, known as "Father Jack," who died on Oct. 13 after a brief illness, had been scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, and his funeral Mass was planned for Thursday at noon.
"Because of last night's situation, we weren’t able to offer him the services that he deserves," Poitras said.
Sullivan had worked at the church for more than a decade.
Rev. John Tanyi, also on staff at St. Mary's, couldn't understand why someone would go into a sacred space and set fire to it.
"I can only pray for that person. I don’t know what went into the head of that person to do such a thing," he said.
