Abandoned North Side church catches fire

Pittsburgh fire crews put out a fire at a long-shuttered North Side church Saturday afternoon.

Crews were dispatched at around 3 p.m. Saturday to St. Wenceslaus Church, located in the 800 block of Progress Street, for reports of smoke and fire coming from the building, said Emily Bourne, a public safety spokeswoman.

Shortly after crews arrived, the fire was increased to a two-alarm fire, Bourne said.

There was no external collapse of the structure, but a portion of the internal vaulted sanctuary gave way, Bourne said.

Detectives determined the fire started near the center of the building, on the first floor, Bourne said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The building owner was contacted and arrived to the scene.

There were no injuries, Bourne said.

Located near the 16th Street Bridge, the church was Pittsburgh’s only Bohemian parish when it was founded in 1871.

Once the site of a Lutheran church, a “new church” was built there in 1900. The final Roman Catholic Mass was celebrated in that building on Oct. 15, 1989.