ROCHESTER, NY - A four-alarm fire on Christmas night brought 75 percent of Rochester's on-duty firefighters to the scene as flames engulfed a church.

Fire crews were called to the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Jefferson Avenue just before 6:00 P.M., and found heavy smoke showing from the large church. Firefighters called a second-alarm shortly after they arrived and transitioned to a defensive attack when parts of the ceiling began falling in when firefighters were trying to make an interior attack.

The fire eventually took possession of the entire roof. This was a defensive attack only because the roof eventually collapsed inside. Third and fourth alarms brought three-quarters of the city firefighters to the scene, plus firefighters from the Gates and Ridge Road fire districts.