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Board of Directors with Orange Grove Area Museum hopeful to recover after losing countless artifacts in Easter fire

The cause of the fire remains undetermined. In the meantime, the museum board has filed a claim with their insurance, who will be on the site Friday.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It could be months before the official cause is released by the State Fire Marshal's Office on the devastating fire at the Orange Grove Area Museum.

That word comes from the museum's board of directors. 

Smoke billowed from the building in downtown Orange Grove Easter morning. The fire was intense and took roughly five hours for volunteer fire fighters to extinguish the flames. 

Luckily, no one was hurt in the blaze. 

The museum housed various items that helped teach the unique history of the City as well as the stories of people who called Orange Grove home. Thursday night, officials with the museum waited to see if the possibility of rebuilding was an option. 

Museum curator, Jan Rusk has served with the museum since it opened in 1999. A dream that was first imagined by local teacher Betty Box as a way to preserve the area's rich history. 

"They started gathering up stuff and we had the best museum," Rusk said. "There wasn't another one like it in the whole area.  We had things no body else had."

According to President of the museum's board of directors Ernest Henderson, he hasn't been inside to assess the damage because of the unsafe nature of the burned building.

"There were a lot of artifacts inside, our office, our meeting room, we had a military room that preserved our military history and I hear it's completely gone," Henderson said. 

Despite what was lost, those associated with the museum are thankful for the volunteer firefighters who did what they could, and the community members that have reached out. 

"I've had people tell me, 'I have this at the house, maybe we can recover a lot of it.' I hope," Rusk said. 

The cause of the fire remains undetermined. In the meantime, the museum board has filed a claim with their insurance, who will be on the site Friday.

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