This stinks. Anyone else have family in Jefferson County?

www.courier-journal.com/article/20090521...  

MADISON, Ind. - A fire that heavily damaged the 154-year-old Jefferson County courthouse, destroying its dome-topped bell tower, likely ruined much of its cache of deeds, marriage certificates and other records dating to the early 19th century, officials said today.   Madison Mayor Tim Armstrong said yesterday's fire was particularly shocking because an exterior renovation had just been completed that left the courthouse in top condition for the city's bicentennial, set for June 6-14.
Officials said the bicentennial celebration will continue as planned, although the city's Old Court Days festival tomorrow will be relocated on the south side of the courthouse square.
Only hours before the fire, Armstrong said workers put finishing touches on the three-story brick and wooden structure that left it polished and its tower with a fresh coat of white paint.
"It was a beautiful sight," he said. "There's a lot of sadness today because of the history we've lost and all the work the county put into restoring the courthouse."
As the fire spread, smoke billowed hundreds of feet into the air as flames shot out the top of the building, consuming the gold-domed bell and clock tower while stunned residents watched.
County Attorney Wil Goering said fire investigators had not yet determined what caused the fire, which destroyed the 1855 structure's roof, sending it collapsing into the third floor that housed the county's courtrooms.
He said the county intends to rebuild the courthouse and that is believed to be fully insured.
"There's no loss of life, just a lot of things and the building will be restored so we'll move on and it will be better for the next 200 years," Goering said.
As of this afternoon, he said, county officials had not yet been allowed into the courthouse due to the continuing investigation by the state fire marshal and others.
But he expects many of the building's store of documents - including deeds, marriage and divorce records, adoption records and genealogy documents - were damaged or destroyed by flames or the water that firefighters poured on the courthouse to save it.   "There's several feet of water in the basement and that's where a lot of the records were stored," Goering said.
Officials from the state archivist's office will help in efforts to salvage those documents, many of which date to the early 1800s.
Among the items Goering fears were lost is a book signed by every attorney who ever practiced in the county. That book was kept in the circuit court on the gutted third floor.
"We'll have to see if we can locate that book. It's that sort of thing that will be irreplaceable," he said. "There are certainly many relics and documents we'll never recover."
About 75 county inmates were moved from the adjacent county jail to nearby counties because smoke from the courthouse had entered the jail, damaging it.
The Indiana Supreme Court issued an order today closing the county courts and clerk's offices and suspending court deadlines and time limits until noon June 5 due to the emergency. The high court also authorized officials to move the courts and clerk's offices to another location so they could continue to conduct business.
Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathryn Dolan said the order was important because time limits such as those for a speedy trial can be grounds for appeal.