Wakefield Church Fire Burns Historic Building

A Wakefield church was destroyed by fire in Massachusetts on Tuesday evening after a lightning strike reportedly sparked a blaze that burned through the historic building.

Images shared with Reuters showed firefighters attempting to extinguish the burning First Baptist Church located in Wakefield, about 20 kilometres northwest of Boston.

Crowds of people gathered near the scene on Tuesday. Witnesses told local media that the steeple was struck by lightning at around 7 p.m. local time (2300GMT) .

The church shared their grief in a statement on their website saying "While we lost our historic building from a lightning strike this week, we praise Jesus that our church community was kept safe. A very big thank you to the many firefighters who did their jobs with excellence, and to the outpouring of support from the community."

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