BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The pipe organ at Buffalo's St. Joseph Cathedral has a long history, one that will continue on despite fire damage to it and the cathedral around it.
A fire broke out in on April 1st after a tarp was left under a hot light in the church. The fire filled the church's organ with soot and dirt from the smoke and burned three pews. The pipes were recently cleaned out, but those pews still need to be repaired.
The organ was built in 1876 for our nation's centennial in Philadelphia and was purchased and moved to Buffalo the following year.
"It's important to the history of this church and it's actually one of the most historic organs nationally because of its origin and because it's remained intact all those years," said organist Tim Socha.
Damage estimates were originally in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the Diocese says damage is nowhere near initial estimates and are now expected to cost somewhere in the tens of thousands.