Firefighters earlier this week rushed in to save the Taoist Temple Museum in Hanford, near Fresno from fire.
Flames heavily damaged the temple room on the second floor after starting in the stairwell, reported ABC30.
The temple is remembered as a gathering place for many Chinese in the area.
“I really wanted my mom, but I was also so glad she was not here to see this because I think we would have been two crumpled heaps on the floor,” said Arianne Wing, president of the China Alley Preservation Society, which maintains the museum.
Wing’s mother died just a few months ago
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She told the Hanford Sentinel the fire destroyed some of the artifacts in the museum, but credited firefighters for saving other items by limiting the amount of water used to fight the flames.
“Like most things in a museum, they’re priceless,” Wing said. “I can tell you when I first went up to assess the damage when the Fire Department took me up there, it brought me to my knees.”
Investigators are still determining the cause of the fire.
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