"It makes you think about things," admitted the Rev. Steve Patti, one of the priests at the 810 W. Chapel Hill St. church. "You just don't think it's going to happen here."

The fire, the cause of which isn't yet known, occurred in the daily mass chapel, an older room not used for the church's larger services, Patti said. An usher discovered the flames around 11 a.m. and raised the alarm.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze quickly and it didn't appear to have caused any serious structural problems, but interior damage was visible from outside, although the extent wasn't clear.

While cynics might debate the religious implications of a church fire on a Sunday, there was relief all around that the building wasn't full when it happened. Patti said there were probably fewer than 40 people there at the time. "Luckily our church was not full because it was between masses," he said. The 9 a.m. mass had lasted only half an hour and those who were there were preparing for an 11:15 a.m. service, according to Patti.

Police closed the street between Arnette Avenue and the Durham Freeway as firefighters tackled the blaze and removed smoke from the chapel.

"With a building this size, the big thing for us is trying to get all the smoke out of the building," said Dan Curia, battalion chief with the Durham Fire Department.

Curia said the fire call came in at 11:03 a.m. and that the first firefighters on the scene found an evacuation under way. An inoperable fire hydrant nearby didn't slow the operation, Curia said, with firefighters stretching a hose to one farther away. The flames were extinguished within about five minutes of arrival, Curia said.

The fire was ultimately put out from inside the building, but some windows were broken as firefighters tackled the flames.

"The flames were hitting the window and they broke it," church member Mark Falgout said.

Smoke swirled around the statue of Jesus on the front of the building as firefighters worked.

Afterward, a burned interior wall was visible from outside, as was a blackened wooden door. Furniture and items, including a trash can, plastic crate and metal stand, were removed from the burning area and strewn across the front lawn.

The church has remained on the West Chapel Hill Street site throughout its 100-year history. The damaged building opened in 1956, Patti said. The church's main mass services are held in a larger adjacent building that opened three years ago. The campus also includes the Immaculata School, which caters to up to 410 students of all grades. Patti estimated church membership at around 2,000 families.

All remaining activities at the church for the day were canceled, including masses scheduled for 11:15 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Some members arriving late for the 11:15 service stood agape at the edge of the cordoned area.

Pending a fire investigator's review, Curia said Sunday it was too early to speculate as to the cause. Church members were at a loss to explain what happened. "I was in the space five minutes before and I didn't see any smoke," Falgout said. Whatever the cause, Patti said the church would likely review its fire prevention plans in light of the blaze