Ukrainian Greek Catholic church near Toronto destroyed by fire (updated)

A two-alarm fire has gutted a Ukrainian church in Brampton, leaving only a skeleton.

The blaze broke out inside St. Elias The Prophet Ukranian Catholic Church on Heritage Road near Bovaird Drive in the morning.

About 15 fire truck are on scene and no injuries have been reported.

A witness told 680News the fire was “massive.”

“A good distance away when the wind’s blowing you could almost feel the heat down the road from it,” he said.

“It’s an old structure with a lot of dry wood.”

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

In rural Brampton, just on the outskirts of Toronto, built in 1995, the parish church of St. Elias the Prophet rises high on the Peel Plain above the Credit River Valley. Though this building was built in 1995, the parish community was started in 1976.

A wooden structure of heavy timbers (Douglas Fir), it is sheathed in Western red cedar. It has been constructed according to an architectural style known as “Boyko”, derived from western Ukraine.

The cupolas on the church of St. Elias are in the 17th century Cossack style. It is one the only 2 Boyko churches that have 5 cupolas rather than the usual 3 (the other being St. George's in Drohobych, Ukraine.