September 20, 2006
Museum hit by fire
by Vance Gutzman
An important piece of history went up in smoke last week when a fire
caused substantial damage to the Schoolhouse Museum in Point Alexander.
The blaze broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning,
September 13, just after midnight.
Laurentian Hills firefighters responded quickly to the fire, and
remained on scene until 9 am.
"We had to go at it as hard as we could," said fire chief Kevin
Waito.
Firefighters did their best in beating down the flames, while at the
same time trying to preserve the wealth of historic artifacts contained
inside the museum.
"We were lucky to save any of it, the way it was burning," said
Waito.
The exact cause of the blaze has yet to be determined, though the
fire chief believes it started in the bathroom of the museum.
The Schoolhouse Museum is run by volunteers with the Rolph, Buchanan,
Wylie and McKay Historical Society.
And while the fire may have shaken their spirits, members of the
Historical Society appear to be unwavering in their resolve to pick up
the pieces and soldier forward.
Indeed, a crew of volunteers was at the scene all the next day,
working in a steady drizzle of rain to move the museum's contents into
the adjacent church which also houses historical archives and
memorabilia.
"It's pretty discouraging, but we're hanging in," said Historical
Society president Ellen McQuestion.
"We're struggling along as best we can."
McQuestion was unsure last week how many of the museum's treasures
could be salvaged.
"We know a lot of the books are wet," she said on Friday.
"Right now we're just going through the rubble."
McQuestion heaped praise on both the firefighters who responded on
the night of the fire, as well as the volunteers who responded to the
Historical Society's needs in the days that followed.
She was scheduled to sit down with the Historical Society's insurance
adjuster on Friday to determine what steps will be taken next.
McQuestion suggested last week that the Historical Society may
consider establishing a trust fund to facilitate donations for the
Schoolhouse Museum's reconstruction.
Any details on such a trust fund will be published in future editions
of the North Renfrew Times.
