Crews battle the blaze at the Museum of the Highwood Wednesday morning.

Smoke  billows from the upper windows of the Museum of the Highwood Wednesday morning.

Smoke intensifies as fire fighters pump water into the Museum of the Highwood.

The fire at the Museum of the Highwood is now out. Fire crews are still on scene and checking for hot spots and structural damage.

High River Fire Chief Len Zebedee says they haven't been able to start the investigation and theyprobably won't get into that until later in the day.

In a release Zebedee says "It appears the fire started on the outside of the building and made it's way up into the attic and roof area."

Town Manager Harry Harker says " Luckily, some of the collection is currently stored off-site due to limited space at the museum. We will have to wait until we can get inside to assess the extent of the damage to the artifacts as well as the structural damage to the building itself."

"The priority now is to begin restoring and preserving the artifacts." Says Director of Community Services Doug Munn. "We have already received cooperation from the Glenbow Museum and will continue to work with them to begin the restoration process."

Program Director for the museum Pam Markley says it's heartbreaking. She says "It's a tough day for all of us. A lot of hugs and a lot of tears this morning when we got here and saw the building." She says "it's really, really difficult."

Markley says she'll be hanging around to find out when they can go in and start going through their artifacts. She says the most important thing will be the records of everything they own.

The Town says  more details about the cause of the blaze and the condition of the building’s structure and contents will be released once a thorough investigation is completed.