Stilwell, OK -
An historic part of Downtown Stilwell is no more after a fire gutted it late Monday Afternoon.
Stilwell Fire Chief, Kevin Stuhmer tells KTUL.com, crews were called to the scene at 2nd & Division Street around three o'clock on reports of smoke coming from a business. When crews arrived, they found flames coming from the first floor of the building.
Stuhmer says it was tough fighting the fire because of the age of the building. Concerns over the building's stability forced firefighters to try to extinguish the fire from the outside.
Ronnie Trentham, the city's mayor, says at least ten different departments showed up to battle the fire. He says citizens also pitched in by digging into their own pockets to buy water and ice for firefighters.
Trentham added the building was over a century old and as a community, they "hate to loose it."
One onlooker we spoke with said she's 'sickened' by the loss because of the building's historic value.
Crews worked through the night to knock down hot spots and demolish the remaining parts of the building. At one point, tow trucks, the kind designed for towing semi trucks, were called into help bring down a wall that was teetering over an adjoing business.
At this point, investigators still do not have a cause for the fire. A nearby business owner told fire officials they heard what sounded like an "explosion" just before the fire started.
Look for more on this story later on-air on Tulsa's Channel 8 and on-line at KTUL.com.
