万花筒 2008-09-23&09-24 芝加哥唐人街博物馆起火（在线收听）

One afternoon, the Friday afternoon fire that raced through a building in Chinatown, housing the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago. WGN's Tom Louis has the latest.

The Fire Department got a 911 call around two this afternoon, heavy smoke and flames pouring out of the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago in Chinatown.

It was in this structure where exactly catching the fire, but burned in the walls and floors, and under heavy smoke conditions, the find is not easy.

The Department sent extra personnel. Ladder trucks doused the four-storey building. The third floor collapsed entirely. And once the fire was out, the worst fears were realized.

We start from scratch, and a lot of us are volunteers, and so we put in a lot of time in here.

Barely four years old, the museum is chronicle— the history of Chinese-Americans who settled in Chicago. The rich legacy and source of pride now covered in soot and in ash.

This is a huge step backwards. The museum has been gathering money, and has been fortune enough to open two exhibits.

The exhibits were currently on display on the first two levels. These include historical papers, pictures and artifacts, many unknown from private donors.

This is from people all over the world, actually. And it is going to be very difficult to tell the owner of the objects that were burned down, you know.

I am WGN's Tom Louis is reporting from CLTV News.