Wagoner Devastated After Another Fire Damages Historic Building

People living in downtown Wagoner are in shock after a fire destroyed another historic building on Main Street.

It’s the second fire in the past six months, and it’s devastating for the people who live there, but even more devastating for the people who are trying to protect the town's history.

12/27/2017 Related Story: Fire Damages Downtown Wagoner Building

"It just makes me sick every time I look out the front window," said Liz McMahan with the Wagoner Historical Museum.

The building that burned Wednesday is right across the street from the shops damaged by another huge fire that burned in July.

7/31/2017 Related Story: Wagoner Police Continue Investigation In Downtown Wagoner Fire

"It's so empty. For a block that used to be full of life, now we are death," McMahan said.

Police said a patrolman noticed the fire just after 3:00 a.m. An hour later, while firefighters were putting out the fire, the City Museum was broken into.

Nothing was damaged, but police do not know if the two incidents are related.

"What if? That's what I thought in August and that's what I was thinking this morning,” McMahan said. "These things in here are one-of-a-kind and are absolutely irreplaceable."

Countless families have donated pieces of their history - toys and letters, photographs and clothes - to help the museum tell the story of how Wagoner came to be.

The buildings, McMahan said, are part of that story.

"We can move forward, and there's talk of saving the facades of these old buildings, but they will never be the same," she said.

The fire marshal is still investigating and said he will probably stay overnight.

Arson is in question since the building that caught fire does not have electricity, but it will take time to get answers.