Missouri News, News

136-year-old southern Illinois church destroyed in fire

(BROOKLYN, Ill., AP) — Fire has destroyed a 136-year-old abandoned church in the southern Illinois town of Brooklyn.

More than a dozen fire departments responded when the First Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church was reported burning on Saturday night. Brooklyn Fire Department Safety Officer Milton Dixon says the fire marshal will assess the property on Monday to try to determine a cause of the blaze.

Dixon tells the Belleville News Democrat (http://bit.ly/24t8SMU) that the church has been abandoned for more than two decades. It’s now surrounded by strip clubs. The church was built in 1880.

Brooklyn is in St. Clair County, located across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com.

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