Seattle Times reports that a fire Saturday destroyed the historic Armory building in Aberdeen, housing the city’s museum, a senior center and the offices of a community social-services program. A Kurt Cobain exhibit was located inside of the building, as Aberdeen is his hometown.
The building, which is busy on weekdays, was unoccupied when the fire started. No one was hurt.
The building dates to 1922 and takes up most of a city block. It includes many exhibits on the city’s history, on the fishing and timber industries and life around the mouth of the Chehalis River.
“This is a devastating loss for the city,” said Aberdeen Fire Chief Tom Hubbard.
He said “there’s massive destruction of a lot of historic items” from fire, smoke and water damage.
The building also held the offices of the Coastal Community Action Program, which administers social services in the area, and the Aberdeen Senior Center.
Hubbard said the alarm call came at 9:26 a.m. and the crews immediately saw a huge plume of smoke rising from the roof.
Firefighters had to pull out of the building when the ceiling started to collapse. Crews from surrounding areas arrived, for a total of 77 firefighters tackling the blaze. Hubbard said crews would work through the night to tamp down hot spots.
Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic tweeted, “This is terrible. Hope people are safe.”
See a video of the fire and photos from the Kurt Cobain exhibit that was burned down below.
#BREAKING Heather Luther sent us this video of fire at the Aberdeen Museum housed in the historic armory. Among the treasures inside is a Kurt Cobain exhibit. @SuzannePhan is heading there for #KOMONews pic.twitter.com/cbxvdxiIyA
— Keith Eldridge (@KeithKOMO4) June 9, 2018
Sad to hear about the fire at the Aberdeen Museum of History. Here are a couple pics of the Kurt Cobain Exhibit and one of the old Stewart Field (Aberdeen HS stadium) sign I took when I was down there last September. Horrible loss for the community. pic.twitter.com/rsRliBPbmA
— Ryland Spencer™ (@RylandSpencer) June 11, 2018
