Our Lady of Angels school to open on time after fire; Virgin Mary statue saved

DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. (WTXF) - A Delaware County Catholic school was destroyed after catching fire overnight.

Fire officials say they were called to Our Lady of Angels Regional Catholic School in Morton around 11 p.m. Wednesday night.

By the time first responders arrived on scene they say the fire was fully involved and about 40 people in the neighboring community were evacuated. They have since returned to their homes.

Officials say no one was inside the school at the time of the fire.

Aerial footage from the scene shows the roof of the school was completely destroyed in the fire. A Twitter user shared a video of intense flames engulfing the school late last night.

Members of the community gathered near the school last night, and were emotional about the loss of the building. The church was established in the early 1900s and the school was built not long after.

FOX 29's Jennifer Joyce reports former students were on the scene and asked firefighters to rescue a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the front office. Firefighters were able to recover the statue, which was a graduation gift from the Class of 2013.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia released a statement following the fire saying that they would provide every mode of support possible.

The statement read's in part:

The pastor and principal are committed to opening school on time in September at a unified location to keep the entire school community together. Multiple options are available and being considered at this time in order to meet that goal. Developments will be communicated to school families as rapidly as possible.

We are grateful to the fire fighters and first responders who worked tirelessly to extinguish the blaze, many of whom are alumni of OLA. It is a blessing that no one was injured as a result of the fire.

The Archdiocese later announced the school would open on time in September and utilize space at Cardinal O'Hara for teachers and students.