Fire at Sanok skansen destroys 1667 wooden church of St. Nicholas and two historic buildings
A fire at the Museum of Folk Architecture in Sanok overnight destroyed a 17th-century wooden church and two neighboring historic buildings. Around 20 fire brigades brought the blaze under control by Sunday morning with no injuries reported.
Overnight blaze at the skansen
A fire broke out at the Museum of Folk Architecture (Muzeum Budownictwa Ludowego) in Sanok, Podkarpackie province, in the night of Saturday 15 August to Sunday 16 August 2026. The fire brigade received the first report at approximately 1:00 AM Sunday according to local media, while TVN24 cited a dispatch time of 1:20 AM from the museum's security staff. When firefighters arrived, the wooden church of St. Nicholas was already engulfed in flames, and the fire had spread to two adjacent buildings in the Eastern Foothills (Pogórzanie Wschodnie) sector of the open-air museum.
- Fire reported at the Sanok skansen (around 1:00 AM per one source, 1:20 AM per another)
- Firefighters arrive to find the wooden St. Nicholas church already engulfed in flames
- Fire spreads from the church to two neighboring historic buildings
- About 20 fire brigades bring the blaze under control by Sunday morning
- Museum announces closure until further notice and cancellation of August 16 events
A 17th-century church lost
The church of St. Nicholas, originally built in 1667 in the village of Bączal Dolny, was one of the oldest wooden churches in the Podkarpackie region and was described by RMF FM as a "pearl in the crown" of the province. The church had been dismantled and relocated to the Sanok skansen in the 1970s. It was completely destroyed in the blaze. The fire then spread to two neighboring structures, identified by OSP KSRG Sanok-Olchowce as two cottages (chałupy), while other media described them as a traditional cottage and a barn (stodoła). Both were destroyed.
Firefighting response
About 20 fire brigades (zastępy) were deployed to the site. The firefighting operation concluded on Sunday morning, with crews successfully preventing the fire from spreading further across the museum grounds. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
Museum closure and cancelled events
The Museum of Folk Architecture announced on Sunday morning that the skansen would remain closed to visitors until further notice. All events planned for 16 August were cancelled, including the Galicyjska Graciarnia, an antiques fair held on the museum's Galician Market Square, and the Sarmacki Jarmark Artystyczny (Sarmatian Art Fair). The museum did not indicate when it might reopen.
