Community Rallies Around Beloved Museum

The cause of the blaze that damaged the Museum of the Highwood early Wednesday morning remains undetermined.
Fire Chief Len Zebedee confirmed the fire originated externally in the south-east corner of the building. “Although the exact cause of the fire cannot be determined, there were a number of factors that contributed to its spreading into the building,” he explained.
A large stack of plastic deck chairs, stored near the back fence and a wooden brace, used to support the lintel above a secondary door, provided the fuel that significantly increased the intensity and heat of the blaze.
“Plastic chairs are extremely combustible,” said Zebedee “and create a very black smoke. The heat and flames from this were able to reach the overhanging eaves and work their way into the attic.”
Luckily the fire was contained to the attic area, limiting the amount of damage to the building. Although it will still require weeks of work to clean the water and smoke damage from the main floor, the construction of a new roof is the only major structural work that appears to be required.
“The shingles needed to be replaced anyway,” said Irene Kerr, director and curator of the museum. “We had already received a provincial grant to complete this work this year.”
Because the fire did not spread into the exhibition areas, most of the collection was preserved. A large portion of the collection of archival photos and original journals were stored in an onsite vault and these were completely untouched by the fire.
“We were very lucky,” said Kerr “I would say 95 per cent of the collection will be salvageable.” Counterparts from several Calgary museums have already volunteered their services to help with the preservation of the artifacts. The Glenbow Museum, the Military Museum and the Calgary Firefighters Museum have all volunteered to assist with transferring the collection to temporary storage facilities and provide consultation on restoration methods for any pieces that suffered water or smoke damage.
Foothills School Division and Christ the Redeemer Catholic schools have offered temporary space in their schools to store the artifacts.
Both Zebedee and Kerr praised town staff and High River residents for their support and assistance over the past two days.
“The amount of teamwork and cooperative spirit that we saw from all the town's departments was really wonderful,” said Zebedee.
Sue Graham, acting director for the community services department said they have received a great deal of support from local residents who have taken time to help move the artifacts.
“We will still need volunteers over the next few weeks as we establish a longer-term storage area for the collection,” she said. Anyone who would like to volunteer is asked to call Tracy in community services at 403-652-2110.
While the long-term outcome for the building is very positive, it will be closed for the remainder of the summer. Details about where or if the museum will be relocated in the interim will be discussed at the next board meeting.