A fire has rendered the St. Paul's Roman Catholic church in Bas-Caraquet a total loss, according to Caraquet fire chief Marc Landry.
Gilbert Blanchard, the president of the finance committee for the church, was told the church had reignited at 4:45 a.m. Monday morning.
"The fire has almost entirely consumed the church, the steeple has fallen. We were worried because the flames were coming out from everywhere," said Blanchard.
"The church has been built in 1904, so it takes a few sparks that have slept and woke up in the early morning, and then it did not take long until it spread to the roof … it is sad."
Blanchard said there were no visible flames at 7:00 a.m. on Monday morning.
A fire had broken out in the 114-year-old stone church Sunday morning, however it was thought to have been brought under control.
Heart of community
Blanchard said the church was the heart of the northeastern village with a population of 1,305 people.
"The church was built with poor people at the beginning of the century," said Blanchard.
"It's our heart. It's our spirits … it's the saddest day of our town today."
The church had been at risk of closing in 2013, but a committee to save the church was established, raising $860,000.
The church was insured but Blanchard said he doubts that will cover all the damage and the parish is likely to build a new building than repair the stone structure.
"We got insurance but a building like that … it's a lot of money," said Blanchard.
"It's something that we would like to rebuild … but to build something close to that would cost $10-15 million. It's pretty early but probably not, we won't get that church back."