Fire tears through century-old St. James Church in Hudson, Que.

A fire ripped through the historic St. James Church in Hudson, Que., about 58 kilometres west of Montreal Sunday morning.

A fire broke out in the central hall area of the more than 175-year-old church around 9 a.m., according to Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison.

The church's kitchen had been undergoing renovations for the past two weeks. Hutchison said Rev. Sophie Rolland told her the fire started to spread rapidly after Rolland flipped a light switch.

Several firefighters, including some from two neighbouring municipalities, are working to control the blaze within the church's wooden rafters, behind the ceiling.

"The water isn't getting into the interspace and so they'll probably be ripping off the part of the metal roof at this point," Hutchison said. "It's a very sad, very tragic part of the story of this church."

"My parents were married there. My mother's family — the first reverend is from her family so this is very close to my heart."

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Hutchison noted that regardless of the extent of the fire, "there is every intention to rebuild whatever is destroyed and to reopen this place of heritage and shared love by the whole of the community."