Fire Damages Historic Tremont Church Featured in 'Deer Hunter' (Video)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A fire Tuesday afternoon caused extensive damage to the roof of the historic St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral in the city's Tremont neighborhood.

John Kearns, deputy public information officer for the Cleveland Division of Fire, said it took firefighters more than four hours to put out the fire, which was brought under control shortly before 9 p.m. It was confined mainly to the roof.

Firefighters were able to save several artifacts inside the building, Kearns said. The windows and doors of the church were also not damaged.

But he said firefighters had to abandon attempts to fight the blaze from inside the church because it was in a very tight space. Instead, they used several ladder trucks to remove the water from the roof.

“It was in the roof and the steeple, it all stayed in the roof area,” Kearns said. “It took a lot of water to put out the fire.”

Fire investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage to the 112-year-old building. There were no injuries.

The church, located at 733 Starkweather Ave., is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was featured in the movie “The Deer Hunter.” The film, released in 1978, starred Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The church is also visible during the opening credits of the 1989 film “Major League.”