The historic St. Ann's Catholic Church in Buffalo, New York, has been the site of a second fire in one week, with investigators determining that the blaze was the result of arson.
The church, built in 1886, was permanently closed in August 2024 and sold to an Islamic community for $250,000. There is now a push to convert the historic church into a mosque.
On Tuesday, firefighters were called to the site of the former church at around 5:45 p.m. after reports of a fire. Crews were able to find and extinguish the blaze before it spread to most of the building.
According to investigators, the fire was determined to be the result of arson. It is unknown exactly where the fire was located within the building and how badly the structure was damaged.
This is the second fire to occur at the former church in just the past week, following a three-alarm blaze last Friday. In January, a four-alarm fire ripped through the church's neighboring building, the former St. Ann's Roman Catholic School, causing significant damage.
