St. John's in Boise shares faith -- and concern -- after Notre Dame fire

BOISE, Idaho (CBS 2) — St. John's Cathedral was built between 1906 and 1921, the same timeframe as the Idaho State Capitol and with the same workers and stone from the same quarry.

And yes, the Boise cathedral has wooden rafters like Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and there is no sprinkler system.

But there are heat sensors that transmit a signal to an electric panel that sends a 911 call to the Boise Fire Department.

And Boise firefighters have trained to respond to St. John's.

Father Gerald Funke, pastor of the Cathedral Parish, gave us a brief tour.

I asked him if one might find symbolism in Notre Dame's fire happening during Holy Week, after Ash Wednesday and leading up to Easter Sunday, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

"As politicians are saying in France, as the Archbishop of Paris is saying, 'we will rise again, the cathedral will rise again'," he said. " So I think, yes, it's sad and tragic. And yet it reminds us of the transitoriness of this human life, of life here on earth."

As for fire at St. John's, Father Jerry says the church is as worried about it as any home owner would be or the owners of any older structure in Boise.

On a historical note, the first Catholic church in Boise -- St. Patrick's -- was built in 1870 and dedicated on Christmas Day.

It was burned to the ground three weeks later.