The City of Nowata is slowly recovering from a January fire at their Public Works building.

The fire destroyed the building and several large pieces of city equipment that was stored there. The City was concerned about how they would replace the ruined vehicles, many of which had been purchased in the past few years using American Rescue Plan Act or ARPA funds. Other area cities have come to Nowata’s rescue by donating vehicles to their Public Works Department. The Village donated two pick ups trucks while Siloam Springs, Arkansas, provided them with a sewer machine, and They were also given a mini excavator by the City of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

City officials are thankful for the generosity of those other communities and are hoping to begin the process of rebuilding the storage facility some time in late 2025.