BELLINGHAM, WA (KGMI.com) – A two alarm fire destroyed the historic building that held Fairhaven’s Harris Avenue Cafe, The Old Independent Coffeehouse and second floor offices.
The cafe’s owner, 39-year-old Nathaniel Breaux, is confirmed to be missing, according to City of Bellingham Communications Director Janice Keller.
Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Hewitt says the call came in just before midnight Saturday and crews found heavy fire coming from the front of the building.
They attempted to enter the building to fight the flames but had to retreat as the upper floor threatened to collapse.
They fought the fire with water from the outside and worked to protect an adjacent building.
The fire was brought under control at about 3:30 a.m.
Investigators were able to enter the unstable structure on Monday and make a limited search, but no victims were found.
They weren’t able to move some large pieces of debris and the instability kept them from searching some areas.
The building and its immediate perimeter are fenced off, but Harris Avenue and 11th Street in Fairhaven are open to traffic.
Most neighboring businesses are open but the Dirty Dan Harris Steakhouse in the adjacent building says on social media that they will be closed until further notice.
A solemn crowd was gathered around the scene Sunday morning.
The City of Bellingham says the building was constructed in 1888 and was the oldest surviving continuously occupied commercial building in Fairhaven.
A GoFundMe campaign has started for the employees of Harris Avenue Cafe and “The Old Indy.”
As of Tuesday evening, nearly $74,000 has been raised out of their $70,000 goal.
A separate GoFundMe was also started for Dirty Dan’s Steakhouse employees.
Almost $9,000 has been raised for the steakhouse employees out of their $7,500 goal.
Bayou on Bay announced they will hold a fundraiser for the employees affected by the fire, donating 11% of their sales to related GoFundMes after the event Friday, Dec. 22.