From St. Peter’s 150th Anniversary booklet, published in October 1971:
“A five-alarm five destroyed St. Peter’s on March 27, 1940, three days after Easter. The first alarm was turned in at 10:13 a.m., and there was a general alarm calling all off-duty firemen to the scene at 10:50.
Caused by a spark from a blowtorch being used to remove paint from the clerestory windows, the fire was located in the attic, sealed in by a slate roof above and by plaster below.
Answering the fire were 40 pieces of apparatus and 160 firemen. Over 100 policemen were assigned to duty in the area.
The Revs. Charles W. Nelson and Francis E. Sullivan, assistants, hurried to the sanctuary, removed the sacred vessels and took them to the chapel of the convent. The pastor, Msgr. (Eugene) Connelly, directed volunteers in removing vestments from the sacristy.
A hole was broken in the roof in an attempt to get the hose playing into the attic but there was such a burst of flame, the men were ordered down. The fire had to be fought from the street and the rectory roof.
Falling slate loosened by the fire and the high-pressure hose as well as the dense smoke injured five firemen who were taken to Providence Hospital.”
