Blaze engulfs historic New York church tower

An historic church in lower Manhattan that houses New York’s Liberty Bell and whose congregation dates to the city’s earliest days was gutted by a massive fire on Saturday that sent flames shooting through the church’s roof.

The Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village burned before dawn after a fire spread from a five-story vacant building adjacent to the church around 5am.

Flames shot from the roof and the church’s stately front window glowed from the conflagration inside.

“We are devastated. We are gutted like our building is gutted; our hearts are crushed like our doors are crushed,” said Reverand Jacqueline J. Lewis.

“But we know how to be the church, and we know that God is God, yesterday, today and tomorrow.”

The fire department said in an Instagram post that there were four minor injuries to firefighters and that marshals were investigating the blaze.

Built in 1892, the church is home to the oldest congregation of the Collegiate Churches of New York, which date to the Dutch settlement of the island in the 1620s, according to the church’s website.

The bell tower houses New York’s Liberty Bell, which pealed to mark the birth of the nation in 1776 and has been rung for the inaugurations and deaths of presidents and events such as 9/11.