MODESTO, Calif. — A Modesto landmark since 1895, the former Franklin and Downs Colonial Chapel, is likely a total loss after a fire and explosion caused the roof to blow off Tuesday.
"How do you replace an 1895 house. How?" said McHenry Museum & Historical Society executive director David Seymour, who grew up admiring the home.
After it caught on fire Tuesday morning, he was among the crowd of people to gather and watch firefighters work to put it out.
"It absolutely made me want to cry because we're never going to have buildings like this again," Seymour said.
When the explosion happened, Modesto firefighters were inside and part of the roof fell off right into the front yard.
"We have firefighters ranging from less than one year experience all the way up to over 30 years experience that were on that call, and most of them have never seen anything like that before and may likely never see something like that again," said Captain Joe Spani, of Modesto Fire Department. "Everybody is aware of how rare it was, and we're very fortunate that nobody was hurt."
Firefighters were eventually able to put out the fire.
Now, the loss of the roof reveals layers of the building's history.
Pointing to a photo of the home's original Victorian design, Seymour said the building was converted into a funeral parlor in 1946.
It closed in 2016 and remained vacant for years before the fire.
"I wish it could have been saved, but standing here, I can see that that’s not possible and it breaks my heart," Seymour said.
Seymour hopes that if anything good comes out of this, it's that the community will come together to preserve its history.
"Cause if we don't, it dies out, and we lose more historic homes like this one," he said.
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