A fire that damaged the former St Ann's Church and Shrine in Buffalo, New York, earlier this week was deliberately set, officials announced on Wednesday.

Firefighters were called to the former church at about 5.45 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21. The fire was contained within the building and extinguished before it spread further, according to local television station WGRZ.

It was the second fire at the site in less than a week and the third in less than a year. On Friday, July 17, Buffalo firefighters responded to a three-alarm blaze that began in the rear of the former church.

In January, the building that formerly housed St Ann's Roman Catholic School was gutted by fire, causing an estimated US$600,000 in damage.

According to local media, the causes of the January fire and the earlier July blaze remain under investigation.

St Ann's Church and Shrine last celebrated Mass in 2013, when the parish was merged with nearby St Columba-Brigid Parish. In 2017, following objections from former parishioners, the Vatican upheld the decision of then-Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo to close the church.

The building has remained vacant since its closure. In 2022, it was sold for US$250,000 to Buffalo Crescent Holdings Inc., a company affiliated with the Downtown Islamic Center in Buffalo. The owners have said they intend to convert the former church into a community centre for the city's Bengali community.

Jack Danziger, the attorney representing Buffalo Crescent Holdings Inc., told WGRZ that the owners were the “victims” of the repeated fires and lacked the resources needed to secure the site against trespassers and vandals.

Buffalo officials have repeatedly expressed concern about the condition and safety of the property.

“I was concerned there was gonna be another fire; I just didn't think it would happen just three or four days later, but here we are. I'm disappointed,” Buffalo Common Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope told WGRZ.

Halton-Pope rejected the suggestion that the owners were the only victims, saying the vacant building and repeated fires were “impacting all of us” in the surrounding neighbourhood.

“They're not the only victims,” she said. “The neighborhood is, as well. I think that there's a need to offer some type of security in the interim.”

Before the recent fires, Halton-Pope said there had been “several calls” about trespassers entering the property and removing items from inside the former church.

In February, Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said taxpayers would not bear the cost of demolishing the former school building.

“The cost of demolition was upwards of $2 million, and that is not something that I'm going to take out of the public coffers,” Ryan said.

“This is a privately owned building. We have been in touch with the owners. We have told the owners of their responsibility toward this building.”

The Catholic Herald contacted the City of Buffalo for additional comment.