

Founded by German immigrants in 1847, it is the second-oldest Missouri Synod Congregation in Wisconsin. The church is part of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. “People had their baptisms here, people were married here. "I’m Catholic and Trinity is Lutheran, but I’m here praying for my brothers in Christ,” said Zappa. fingering his plastic rosary and praying for Trinity Church.

Jacob Zappa stood at the corner of 9th and Highland at 7 p.m. Flames could no longer be seen, but smoke continued to rise up in a few areas. Benedict the Moor parish on North 9th Street.Īt 6:45 p.m., fire crews remained on the scene though it was only the two large aerial ladders towering over the smoldering ruins that were dousing the church with streams of water through the gaping maw of what had been the roof and windows.

The building right next to it helps the homeless,” Murphy said, referring to St. It’s a shame,” said Dinnel Murphy, a nurse at nearby Sinai Samaritan Hospital who saw the flames and walked over. It is a state and Milwaukee landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Victorian Gothic church, in the shadow of the Pabst Brewery complex, was built in 1878 and is one of the oldest in the city. The cause of the blaze was not immediately known, but it appeared to break out as workers on scaffolding were performing maintenance on the building. "It hurts to see something this old and this iconic destroyed by fire," Barrett said. Speaking at the scene, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett lamented the possible loss of the church. "When you have a fire of this magnitude, you're going to have some structural compromise," Smith said. The blaze quickly escalated to 2nd and 4th alarms, Assistant Milwaukee Fire Chief Brian Smith said.Ībout 85 firefighters were called to battle the blaze, and though no damage estimates were available the fire was large enough to damage the building's structural integrity, Smith said. Milwaukee firefighters were called to Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church near the corner of West Highland Avenue and North 9th Street about 3:45 p.m.
