CBC NEWS

The 120-year-old St. Paul's Catholic Church in the Gatineau, Que., community of Aylmer was gutted by a fire on Thursday morning. The blaze, which began at about 1:30 a.m., was fuelled by the church's 100-year-old ornate woodwork.

About 100 firefighters from both Gatineau and Ottawa watched the brass bell plunge to the ground as the fire continued to burn.

After the roof had caved in and the steeple had fallen, visitors continued to pay their respects to the historic building.

As firefighters worked through the morning, neighbours arrived to talk about their connections to the building, which survived two fires before it was last rebuilt in 1893.

Lucy Dallaire, who pulled up with her husband in a minivan, both in their pajamas, said that she had her first communion at the church.

"I'm very upset. This is a big deal. Everybody saw the church. From even across the river, you saw the peak of the church, you knew that was the big thing in Aylmer," said Dallaire.

Rescue workers have not yet said what might have caused the blaze.

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Copyright 2009 CBC
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June 11, 2009