OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) – A popular bar on North Main Street in Oshkosh is now just rubble after an overnight fire.
Mabel Murphy’s collapsed after smoke and fire roared through the building.
John Holland, with the Oshkosh Fire Department says the fire actually started in the building next to Mabel Murphy’s.
“There were two, closed-in porches, where we are thinking that’s where the fire started,” says Holland.
Crews think that building is also a total loss.
“The building that collapsed is Mabel Murphy’s. It’s pretty much an institution here in Oshkosh. It’s been around for a long long time. I don’t know the actual age or anything, but it’s been here as long as I have and I grew up here,” explains Holland.
He says while the bar was lost, crews were able to salvage one thing.
“Saving the sign worked out well,” he says. “I can’t believe, first of all it was intact when the entire building collapsed, but it is a part of the history here in Oshkosh. It was actually a landmark.”
Four residents and five other people were able to make it out safely from apartments that are above a couple of vacant businesses in those buildings.
No one was injured, while one firefighter sustained a minor injury.
The bar was set to celebrate 45 years this weekend.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
