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A raging fire that consumed the LaSalette Shrine provincial house in Attleboro 10 years ago today closed a chapter in the history of the national shrine, but also opened a period of renewal that continues to unfold.

On Nov. 5, 1999, flames broke out in a room on the third floor of the majestic, three-story romanesque revival structure known as The Castle. Within minutes, the blaze had spread to the attic and quickly consumed the 100-year-old former health sanitorium.

A visiting English priest, Paul O'Brien, perished in the flames.

"When I got there, there were flames coming from one window," said Fire Chief Ronald Churchill, who was among firefighters who went inside the building to check for occupants. "When I came back out, no more than 15 minutes later, the whole roof was going from one end to the other."

Rescuers found the body of O'Brien, but were unable to reach him because of the heat and fire. At least 20 other occupants managed to evacuate safely. Churchill said flames spread to the attic through a system of ventilation ducts.

The fast-moving blaze, helped along because the antique building did not have sprinklers or other modern features, left the building a total loss.

It also left a major void in the city's history.

Marian Wrightington, chairwoman of the Attleboro Historical Commission, said the building had a storied past and was well known to generations of pilgrims who made their way to the National Shrine for religious retreats or to visit the annual 300,000-bulb Christmas lighting display.

"It was very impressive to a child who grew up with that image," Wrightington said. "When we lost that, we lost a part of Attleboro."

Churchill, who rates the massive fire as the most spectacular blaze of any in the past 10 years, remembers that mutual aid was provided by a number of communities.

Some brought tank trucks and drafted water out of a pond to supplement low water pressure in mains on the shrine property.

The ruins proved an impractical foundation for rebuilding and eventually the skeletal remains of the building were demolished.

The 300,000-square-foot ediface, which had been used for religious purposes since the 1940s, was opened in 1903 as the Solomon Sanitarium as a rest center and health resort for people who came to partake of the area's mineral spring water.

But founder James Solomon, always beset by financial uncertainty, was forced to sell the building and the 256-acre property to the Battle Creek Sanitarium. The Michigan-based company operated the spa beginning in 1908, before passing it on to the Methodist Church. The LaSalette missionary religious order purchased the building, along with its, by then, 135 acres in 1942 for use as a seminary.

The annual Christmastime illuminations, featuring thousands of electric light bulbs, an international creche display and other attractions began in 1953.

Even before the fire, however, LaSalette had laid the groundwork to add new buildings and programs intended for worship and the renewal of religious faith.

In 1998, the shrine broke ground for a new, $2.5 million shrine church.

In 2007, construction began on a new visitor center including a 600-seat auditorium.

Just as it had been before the fire, the National Shrine of Our Lady of LaSalette remains an iconic destination for worshippers and those who come to attend the lighting display and cultural attractions hosted there.

Anywhere from 250,000 to 500,000 people visit the lighting display each year.