© MARC DEMEURE / PHOTOPQR/VOIX DU NORD/MAXPPPFirefighters work to contain a fire in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Saint-Omer, France, September 2, 2024.
Early in the morning on Monday, September 2, a fire broke out in the 19th-century church in the northern French town of Saint-Omer. No-one was hurt, but the church's steeple has collapsed.
A major fire broke out at a historic church in northern France early on Monday, September 2, with
its bell tower collapsing as a result of the blaze, officials said.
At around 4:30 am, a fire broke out in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in the northern town of Saint-Omer.
Thanks to the efforts of 90 firefighters the fire was contained by Monday morning, but the church steeple had collapsed, a representative of the prefecture told Agence France-Presse (AFP). No one was injured, but around 50 residents living nearby were evacuated as a precaution, officials said.
"My thoughts are with the Catholics and the people of Saint-Omer," Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on X. "An investigation is under way to determine the exact cause of the fire," he added.
The church, which features neo-Gothic furnishings,
was unveiled in 1859. It was restored and reopened in 2018.In July, a fire broke out in the spire of the medieval cathedral in the northern French city of Rouen during renovation work. No major damage was reported.
Comment: It is suspicious that there was yet another church fire, only a few months before, and which also started in the upper portion of the building. At the time, the cause was deemed to be '
unknown'.
Also of note is that just a week ago there was, what appears to be, a faked hate crime outside a synagogue in southern France:
Gas canister explosion outside synagogue in France, police open terror investigationAnd
reported yesterday, over in Ireland:
Co Antrim church fire being treated as arson as community left 'devastated' by blaze
A fire which has gutted parts of a Co Antrim church is being treated as arson.
On Sunday evening, nine firefighting appliances - including an aerial appliance - and 49 firefighters attended the blaze at Greenisland Church of Ireland in the Station Road area of the town
Photographs from the scene show substantial damage to the church hall, where a section of the roof was destroyed in the blaze, which began around 9pm on Sunday night.
"We are devastated" - Greenisland Church gutted in overnight blaze
Inspector Knowles said: "At approximately 9.10pm, we received a report of a fire at the property on the Station Road.
"Officers along with colleagues from the Northern Ireland Fire Service attended and the blaze was extinguished.
"The Church was celebrating its 70th anniversary this week, and last night was busy in particular. Thankfully no one was injured, however a significant amount of damage was caused to both buildings.
"We are treating this as arson and I am appealing to anyone who may have witnessed anyone suspicious in the area or to anyone with CCTV, doorbell or other footage that could assist with enquiries, to contact police on 101 quoting reference 1437 of 01/09/24.
Speaking about the fire, Reverend Issy Hawthorne-Steele said: "It's absolutely devastating, it's a shock. Most of the people are all in shock.
"Unbelievable that we have had such a weekend of celebration and then to hear that the church is on fire has been unspeakably awful, hard to take in."
They added that the cause of fire was not yet determined
In a statement issued via its Facebook page last night, the church said nobody had been hurt during the incident.
"It started at the back of the building and as I write the fire crews are desperately trying to stop it from spreading to the whole building. Please pray.
"We are just so thankful that the building was empty and nobody has been hurt."
In a further update, the church said the roof of its hall and parish centre was "gone".
East Antrim MLA John Stewart said news of the fire was "deeply concerning".
"I truly hope that no one has been injured and that damage will be limited but the scenes are very worrying indeed," he said.
"It does look like the hall has been completely destroyed, unfortunately. There was a big community fun day and services throughout the weekend... so it's just a horrible end to a fantastic weekend."
In recent years there has been a steady increase of fires at religious buildings, mostly Christian churches, across Europe, and often with no obvious cause.
For example, in January 2023, there were 3 church fires in Paris. At least one of those fires was believed to be 'deliberate'. Two weeks
later in London a heritage-listed church was completely destroyed by fire, the cause was 'under investigation'.
There are many, many more examples. And, whilst the thread connecting those fires seems relatively obvious - they're churches - it should also be noted that other historic and cultural structures have also fallen victim to unexplained fires, too. Such as the 16th April 2024 fire at
Copenhagen's stock exchange, which threatened numerous valuable paintings, and again, the cause was unknown.
This incident was particularly notable, because, as one bystander cried, "This is our Notre-Dame", and coincidentally, or perhaps not, the stock exchange fire had occurred the day after the 5th anniversary of the the Notre-Dame Paris fire.
Whilst not every unexplained church fire should be supposed to be arson, given the sheer number of unexplained fires, their geographic extent, and the number of years this has been going on for, there certainly is reason to believe that there's a targeted arson campaign afoot. The reasons for which may be multifaceted, including cultural destruction, as well as social division.
Given that there is an element of organised criminality to this, and how it feeds into a number of deep state agendas, it seems reasonable to assume that deep state actors are involved in some manner.
And that's why these recent fires are all the more concerning, because, in recent months, the Western establishment has been rather blatant in its attempts to ignite the boiling societal discontent. Discontent which has largely been brought about by their decade-long weaponised mass migration agenda. And it's quite clear that governments are using these outbreaks of unrest, and the subsequent crackdown, to their advantage:
Comment: It is suspicious that there was yet another church fire, only a few months before, and which also started in the upper portion of the building. At the time, the cause was deemed to be 'unknown'.
Also of note is that just a week ago there was, what appears to be, a faked hate crime outside a synagogue in southern France: Gas canister explosion outside synagogue in France, police open terror investigation
And reported yesterday, over in Ireland: In recent years there has been a steady increase of fires at religious buildings, mostly Christian churches, across Europe, and often with no obvious cause.
For example, in January 2023, there were 3 church fires in Paris. At least one of those fires was believed to be 'deliberate'. Two weeks later in London a heritage-listed church was completely destroyed by fire, the cause was 'under investigation'.
There are many, many more examples. And, whilst the thread connecting those fires seems relatively obvious - they're churches - it should also be noted that other historic and cultural structures have also fallen victim to unexplained fires, too. Such as the 16th April 2024 fire at Copenhagen's stock exchange, which threatened numerous valuable paintings, and again, the cause was unknown.
This incident was particularly notable, because, as one bystander cried, "This is our Notre-Dame", and coincidentally, or perhaps not, the stock exchange fire had occurred the day after the 5th anniversary of the the Notre-Dame Paris fire.
Whilst not every unexplained church fire should be supposed to be arson, given the sheer number of unexplained fires, their geographic extent, and the number of years this has been going on for, there certainly is reason to believe that there's a targeted arson campaign afoot. The reasons for which may be multifaceted, including cultural destruction, as well as social division.
Given that there is an element of organised criminality to this, and how it feeds into a number of deep state agendas, it seems reasonable to assume that deep state actors are involved in some manner.
And that's why these recent fires are all the more concerning, because, in recent months, the Western establishment has been rather blatant in its attempts to ignite the boiling societal discontent. Discontent which has largely been brought about by their decade-long weaponised mass migration agenda. And it's quite clear that governments are using these outbreaks of unrest, and the subsequent crackdown, to their advantage: