The members of the Canaan Congregational Church would like to offer our sincerest gratitude to the many firefighters and support personnel who bravely fought the devastating fire that engulfed our “little red church” on Monday, November 6.

The Canaan Congregational Church was organized in 1785, and the church building was erected in 1829 from bricks made from the clay of a Canaan farm. Although our building is not on the historical register, we recognize its historic value to our community. And we acknowledge the many and distinct challenges the old structure presented to the crews who responded in full force when the call came in at 5:38 a.m. and systematically worked the fire for more than 6 hours. No other nearby buildings were damaged.

Crews responded in full force and systematically worked the fire for more than 6 hours.

We are grateful and send our highest praise and thanks to each and every firefighter, from the companies initially on the scene—Canaan; East Chatham; Lebanon Valley Protective Association; Red Rock; and Richmond, Massachusetts—to those fire companies who offered mutual aid from Niverville, Austerlitz, North Chatham, Tri-Village, Chatham, and Spencertown.

We send our highest praise and thanks to each and every firefighter, responder, and person offering help and aid.

In addition, we are thankful for the efforts of the Chatham Rescue Squad, New York State Police, Columbia County Sheriff’s Department, Columbia County Fire Coordinator’s Office, Columbia County Cause and Origin Team, and NYSEG. The East Chatham Auxiliary with the generosity of Love’s Truck Stop kept the firefighters nourished and hydrated. Not one person was hurt in the conflagration.

We live in a rural area, and we know it is a major volunteer effort to fight a fire. We are honored and humbled by all those who volunteer in these fire companies.

We are honored and humbled by all those who volunteer.

Finally, we wish to extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support from so many people in our community. We had only an inkling of how widespread our touch is. We have had an abundance of offers from every faith community in our area to worship with them or use their worship space. We are currently holding our Sunday services at the Canaan Fire House, which they so generously offered to us. And while we are sad to see our beloved building scorched with plywood shuttering the holes, we know that we are much more than just a brick building. And we are deeply grateful to be members in such an enormous community of people helping people.

We are deeply grateful to be members of such a community.