Inferno hits synagogue

Welder charged in B’klyn disaster

of the building, we had to move all of our members outside, and we went to an exterior operation,” Woods said.

Police gave Raynor a desk appearance ticket. He is expected to answer the charges in the coming weeks.

The synagogue’s Torahs were saved by firefighters.

“They seemed to be in pretty good condition, the scrolls,” Woods said. “The structural integrity of this building is very bad. It’s in doubt. And at this time, nobody except Fire Department personnel are going to be allowed into that building.” The synagogue was built in the late 1870s as a Baptist church and has been the spiritual home of the 200-member congregation since 1967, according to a Bnai Adath representative who was checking the fire damage. “This has been a part of my life all my life,” said Rabbi Baruch Yehudah, whose bris was celebrated there in 1969. The membership bought the building from another congregation two years earlier.

Members called Yehudah throughout the morning, wondering what they will do next, he said.

“We have no choice but to rebuild, so that’s what we’re going to do — rebuild,” he said.

“The water damage is overwhelming,” Yehudah said.

A Star of David still hung from the front of the synagogue, he noted.

“She’s held up through fire and storm,” Yehudah said. “We’ll hold up, too.”

Firefighters battle blaze as smoke billows from temple in Brooklyn Tuesday. No one was hurt, but beloved synagogue was heavily damaged (far left) after worker Caeser Raynor (bottom) accidentally sparked fire with welding torch (below).