Horrible Fire Decimates Historic Catholic Church School In Buffalo

The Buffalo Fire Department has been very busy in early January, as a huge fire in Buffalo's Emslie neighborhood, a historic building that has a long history in Buffalo, was devastating.

According to Commissioner of the Buffalo Fire Department Daniel Pizarro, in the late-night hours on Thursday, January 15, 2026, a fire was reported at the St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church School on Emslie Street, just south of Broadway, in Buffalo. That fire, which was initially responded to by one local Buffalo fire company, quickly grew and started to rage out of control. A total of four fire alarms were called, which meant more than 120 Buffalo Firefighters responded to the scene to help fight the massive fire.

Drone footage captured by Vestiges 716 shows how intense the fire was as it burned for nearly 12 hours on Buffalo's east side.

Originally constructed in 1858, St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church was built for Buffalo's growing German population in the mid-19th century. Over the years, as the population of Buffalo grew, the need for the parish did as well, and at one time was the largest attended catholic church in Western New York. That need also resulted in the massive 5-story school building being built in 1895. At one point, the St. Ann's parish school had more than 1,900 children enrolled.

In the aftermath of the fire, Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan reported that city officials are assessing the damage to the building to determine what will happen next. Structural Engineers from eco_logic STUDIO, who were on site, noted that it's possible that the build can be salvaged, but the next few days will be critical as thousands of gallons of water were needed to put out the fire, and that water, in the middle of the winter, coupled with the fire damage itself, may have caused irreparable damage. While the building itself is still standing, fire officials have set up a collapse zone around the building just in case the structure is in worse condition than currently thought.

Initial estimates peg damages at around $600,000, but those costs could easily balloon to more than $1 million.

We have several pictures of the aftermath of the fire that you can check out below.