KENOSHA - A fire caused $200,000 in damage to Kenosha's Civil War museum Saturday, but the director didn't think it would delay the upcoming opening. The museum is scheduled to open for a gala event on Friday night and open to the public on Saturday. Kenosha Public Museums Director Paula Touhey believed those events would be held as scheduled. "Our intention right now is to go ahead with it," Touhey said. "If something is discovered that we don't know about, maybe we won't. But it's only going to be a day-and-a-half. Once it's cleaned up, it's not going to be very noticeable." Kenosha Fire Battalion Chief Matt Haerter said the fire appeared to be active for hours before a maintenance worker heard alarms go off around 8:30 a.m. Saturday. The fire was caused by a pile of oil-soaked rags that spontaneously combusted in a first-floor janitor's closet, Haerter said. The sprinkler system appeared to have been on for hours and was able to keep the fire under control before firefighters showed up. A significant amount of smoke was produced, he said. He estimated there was $200,000 in damage, based on costs associated with thoroughly removing smoke residue from the building, repairing the fire-damaged closet and tending to the floor. Touhey said she felt the damages would be manageable. "It wasn't black and oily smoke; right now it's mainly the odor," Touhey said. "We have to assess the wood floor and some drywall and other things that need to be repaired. But it could have been much worse. It's really just the southeast corner where there's noticeable damage." (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)