An early morning fire damaged historic Incarnation in south Minneapolis. According to news reports, a fire broke out around 3:45 a.m. March 9. Firefighters extinguished the flames quickly, but it caused smoke damage to the historic church.

The Minneapolis Fire Department “was absolutely excellent in putting out a fire pretty early (we think) and limiting the damage,” said Father Kevin McDonough, Incarnation’s pastor, in a message to neighbors of the church, which is located at the corner of West 38th Street and Pleasant Avenue.

No one was in the church at the time, which helped the fire department put out the fire quickly, according to media reports.

In a message he shared with Hiawatha Academy next door, and passed along to neighbors, Father McDonough wrote, “This will sound crazy, I suppose — but it was about as good a result as a bad fire can produce. The direct damage was confined to one side of the chapel (although there is smoke damage everywhere). Minneapolis Fire Department did a great job of putting the fire out.”

Father McDonough said that a parishioner who lives nearby saw smoke coming out of the church while on his way to work. The parishioner called his wife, the fire department and woke up his pastor.

“Do pray for our people, please, who will feel badly about their beloved church and their devotional spaces,” Father McDonough wrote to the school community.

According to an email to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis from Father McDonough, the cause of the fire is under investigation.

“We will probably limit any in-church activities today, but I expect us to be up and running in the next couple of days,” Father McDonough told neighbors.

Designed by E.L. Masqueray, the French architect who designed the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul and Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, Incarnation was built in 1910 and is on the National Park Service’s national listing of Historic Places, according to the parish website. With about 2,500 households, according to the website, its community includes many Latin American immigrants.