An eight-alarm fire destroyed a synagogue in Gloucester, Mass.
The fire early Saturday morning destroyed the 30-unit apartment building next door, where the fire started, and killed one person. The cause was unknown, according to the Boston Globe.
Fire Chief Barry McKay told the newspaper that firefighters were unable to save Temple Ahavat Achim’s Torah scrolls.
Ahavat Achim has a membership of about 220 families, Rabbi Samuel Barth told the Globe, and has been located in the Cape Ann community for 100 years. It has been in its current building on Middle Street since 1951.
“The heart of the community is the people,” Barth told the newspaper. “People will get together and cry, but the heart and soul of this community is still strong.”
