Newark, N.J., May 18, 2018 / 14:30 pm
After a fire destroyed their chapel just days before Pentecost, a community of Salesian sisters expressed gratitude for the first responders who extinguished the flames and saved the church's tabernacle.
"Though our hearts are heavy, we are fortunate to be able to report that no one was harmed and that firemen were able to rescue the most precious item in the chapel: the tabernacle," the Salesian Sisters of Saint John Bosco reported in a statement on Friday.
At 1:39am on May 18, a fire broke out at the sisters' school, Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Haledon, New Jersey.
The blaze was a four-alarm fire, meaning at least 168 firefighters were on the scene. Fire departments from four municipalities provided support. The fire was finally snuffed out at 4am. The cause of the fire has not been released.