Despite Suspicious Fire, Pawnee Doctor Continues Serving Community

Fire investigators are looking for an arsonist who destroyed the office of a longtime Pawnee doctor.

The waiting room at Dr. Gordon Laird's office is now littered with piles of charred debris.

“By the time I got up there it was pretty well engulfed in flames,” said Laird.

Investigators said someone broke into Laird's office early Monday morning then set it on fire.

“We had people showing up for appointments during the fire,” he said.

Laird has been practicing medicine in his hometown of Pawnee since 1978. For the past 20 years, he's worked out of a house on Boulder Street that he converted into an office.

He said retiring has never crossed his mind.

“If you're doing something you like to do, you get satisfaction from it...what would you retire to do,” the doctor said.

This week has been hard for Laird, seeing his life's work burned to the ground. Still, he has a good attitude.

“We're gonna go on, we're all right,” Laird said. “You just have to go on and not worry about it.”

Investigators are looking into the possibility that whoever did this came to Laird's office looking for prescription medication. The only problem, Laird doesn’t have those types of pills in his office.

“We have no narcotics and never have had, but people don't know that,” he said.

The fire destroyed everything - including all the medical records. Laird said some can be recovered, others are gone forever.

“You have to start over,” Laird said.

That's exactly what he intends to do.

Since the fire he's been making house calls and offering curbside services.

“It was cold and the wind was blowing, but we had the employees help and we got everybody taken care of,” he said.

While he was taking care of patients, police and the fire marshal’s office were investigating.

Pawnee Police Chief Wes Clymer said there are few persons of interest.

Clymer said losing a doctor’s office is tragic.

“It is definitely devastating to a community of this size, especially with the lack of a hospital. We need all the medical care availability that we can get,” Clymer said. “Dr. Laird's a very big part of this community. He's a good doctor.”

Laird sees about 40 patients each day, he said, and he’s staying positive as he looks for a new space to serve them.

“I look at it like it's gonna be bigger and better,” Laird said.

And, of course, it's going to be in Pawnee because even after almost four decades of service, and now a devastating fire, Dr. Laird still has no plans of retiring.

“No, no ...just getting started again,” he said laughing.

The City of Pawnee has also stepped in to help. The mayor has offered Laird a temporary space inside the old hospital, though, Laird said nothing official has been worked out.

If anyone has any information regarding the fire, call the Pawnee Police Department or the Oklahoma State Fire Marshal’s Office.