Fire Destroys Nowata Maintenance Barn, City Leaders Plan Recovery

A fire destroyed Nowata’s maintenance barn Tuesday morning, reducing six city vehicles, an excavator, and other equipment to ash. The barn housed resources essential for public works, streets, and parks maintenance.

City Manager Melanie Ward, who was called in the middle of the night, described her initial reaction to the news.

“Oh my God, after I got through that shock, it was just, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, how do I fix this, how do I help, what do I do?’” Ward said.

Ward said the damage will delay the city’s response to service calls.

“If there’s a service call, somebody calls and there’s a water leak or something, it might take us a little longer to get it fixed than it normally would,” she said.

Setback for improvements

City Commissioner Dean Bridges said the fire dealt a blow to years of efforts to modernize Nowata’s fleet and facilities.

“For the past four or five years, we’ve been building up new equipment, better equipment. We’ve worked on the barn for the last four years trying to upgrade it,” Bridges said.

Despite the setback, Bridges remains optimistic about the city’s ability to recover.

“We’re pretty resilient in Nowata. We just start moving forward. We’ve got to clean this up and see what we’re going to do next,” he said.

Recovery and investigation

Other communities have offered to lend equipment to help Nowata maintain essential services, and city leaders are exploring leasing options in the interim. An emergency meeting is planned to determine the next steps for cleanup and recovery.

City officials believe the fire may have been caused by an electrical problem, but the cause remains under investigation.