St. Mary's Polish Church roofer talks about suing church

A Nova Scotia roofing company at the centre of a lawsuit after a Cape Breton church burned to the ground is telling its side of the story.

Last November, fire gutted St. Mary's Polish Church in Whitney Pier. Members of the the church blame the roofing company working on the structure for the fire, even though the fire marshal ruled that it was likely accidental.

Linear Roofing Ltd. then filed papers March 10, suing the church for more than $42,000 for the work it completed.

"We just want to be paid for the work," said Kristopher Johnson, who co-owns the roofing company with his brother.

A statement of claim says the company's work was completed prior to the fire and workers did not cause it.

Johnson says his workers were tearing down equipment around the time the church went up in smoke.

"Had not one of our employees not come off the roof for his coffee break, he may have been killed," he said.

Tom Urbaniak, chair of the St. Mary's parish council, said on the day of the fire, workers from Linear Roofing Ltd. apologized to the parishioners and some even teared up as the church burned.

"We didn't hear from the roofing company subsequent to the fire until there was a formal, terse letter from the lawyer for the roofing company stating that there would be a lawsuit against the parish for the final instalment for the roofing contact a roofing contract that, of course, was not completed," Urbaniak told CBC news Monday.

"The fire marshall has yet to determine the cause and I think it's a little premature for either ourselves or the church to be making comments," said Johnson.

The church's insurance will likely cover the cost of a re-build. But the roofer says if his company is responsible for the fire, then the company's insurance would cover the cost of a re-build.

"If we were the cause of the fire, then most likely we'll drop the lawsuit," said Johnson.

Johnston said losing Saint Mary's hit close to home

"Half my family are Polish and went to the church so it was devastating all the way around. We want to see the church rebuilt," he said.

In the meantime, St. Mary's Polish Church says they're working to file a counter lawsuit against Linear Roofing.