CLEVELAND — 3News has confirmed a fire has broken out at the historic St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood.
The Association of Cleveland Fire Fighters IAFF Local 93 posted about the incident on X (formerly Twitter) Tuesday afternoon, stating that the blaze began around 4:30 p.m. Officials reported that the fire was near Starkweather Avenue and Professor Street, with the only church in that area being St. Theodosius.
3News cameras later spotted smoke pouring from the 112-year-old building. At this time, authorities say there are no reports of injuries, but firefighters on scene requested backup battling the flames.
"They sent a crew inside to try to fight the fire from inside, but the smoke banked all the way down to the floor," Cleveland Fire Chief Anthony Luke said. "They had a partial roof collapse inside. Don't know how severe it is, but they didn't feel comfortable having the firefighters remain inside, so they pulled them out and we're fighting the fire from the roof."
St. Theodosius was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, the same year it was similarly designated a Cleveland landmark. It also gained fame for its role in the Oscar-winning film "The Deer Hunter," serving as the location for the wedding between John Savage and Rutanya Alda's characters.
"A lot of people have their lives centered around this," Luke noted. "We sent firefighters into the back of the church with one of the priests to pull out some of their valuable artifacts."
Ken Kovach has worked as the choir master at St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral for 52 years. He's placed decades of music in plastic bins upstairs in the loft of in the front of the church, but is unsure what will be left when the smoke clears from the fire.
"I realize I'm in a state of shock," Kovach told WKYC. "This is our worst nightmare to have your church burned down."
People watched in horror as a century's worth of materials fell from the tower.
"This is a historic church sign of Cleveland and Tremont," Jack Petito. "To see something as so iconic and beautiful as bold as this burn down … it's just a tragedy."
Some people tried to salvage what they could from the ground, while others were trying to comfort a parish priest, whose eyes filled with tears. Churchgoers, however, remain hopeful amid the devastation.
"It destroys our building, but it doesn't destroy our faith," Kovach added. "We are strong as Eastern Orthodox Christians. We'll continue to have our services somewhere."
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.