By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

WILSON -- Dozens of firefighters remained on the scene this morning, dousing the smoldering remains of the historic Wilson Opera House and two other buildings.

The fire was reported at about 2:35 a.m. today, when Wilson Police Chief Mike Schoenfer received a call that a passing motorist had noticed embers in the area.

When he arrived, a structure known as the Johnson building was engulfed in flames.

That fire eventually spread to an adjoining wood frame structure that housed a doctor's office and the opera house, a limestone facility that had been the heart of community -- known as the Czech Capital of Kansas.

Schoenfer said the opera house was destroyed, and this morning firefighters from the Russell Fire Department -- using a ladder truck to get high up into the sky -- was pouring water onto the smoldering remains of the building.

A fourth building, the limestone American Legion, likely sustained some water and smoke damage.

Schoenfer said the Legion building likely will have only external damage.

The opera house has been the centerpiece of Wilson's annual After Harvest Czech Festival, and contained historic newspapers. The building is on the Kansas register of historic places.

So far, there's no known cause, but Schoenfer said it appears the fire started in the Johnson building.

For more on the story, see Sunday's Hays Daily News