San Antonio Fire Department officials said Tuesday the cause of the fire that heavily damaged the rectory at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church over the weekend has been listed as undetermined because of the extent of the damage.
Officials said the investigation will continue.
Firefighters were called just after 3 p.m. Saturday to the church rectory, the residence where Rev. Jimmy Drennan lives. The home was engulfed in fire. The blaze was brought under control in less than 20 minutes, according to the fire department.
The Archdiocese of San Antonio previously said in a Facebook post, that Drennan had left the residence only minutes earlier to prepare for a vigil mass when a neighbor reported an explosion. However, the fire department said on Tuesday investigators found no indications of an explosion, despite earlier reports.
No one was injured, and no neighboring homes were damaged, according to the archdiocese. The rectory sustained significant damage and the archdiocese’s insurance will assess the losses.
Drennan resumed celebrating Sunday masses at the parish and thanked San Antonio police, firefighters and EMS personnel who responded to the scene.
Aside from serving as pastor of St. Margaret Mary, Drennan is also a longtime leader of COPS/Metro Alliance, an interfaith community organizing coalition that played a role in the campaign against Proposition B during last year’s Project Marvel debate.
This story originally appeared in the San Antonio Report.