Fire officials temporarily suspended a search in the debris of a historic Fairhaven building on Monday, following a late-night fire Saturday that left a cafe owner missing and the building gutted.
Because the Terminal Building is structurally unstable, fire officials were limited in how much debris they could move during their initial search in the 135-year-old brick building that housed two popular businesses: Harris Avenue Cafe and The Old Independent Coffeehouse.
Nathaniel V. Breaux, owner of the two Terminal Building businesses, was confirmed missing Sunday. Family and friends were onsite Monday, as fire officials conducted their search of the building.
A team of engineers and building safety specialists established the plan that allowed fire investigators limited access into the building, including cutting holes to explore several spaces otherwise cut-off from the outside.
Those efforts ended Monday afternoon after the team completed their sweep without discovering anything.
“We’re trying to do as much as we can without manipulating big things that might cause a shift in the building and cause it to collapse on our folks,” Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Hewett said early Monday.
The building owners, and their insurance company, are working to bring in the necessary heavy machinery to help shore up the structural issues and allow a more thorough search, Hewett confirmed.
“The big concern is searching for any victims,” Hewett said. “That is our number one priority to try and identify if there is anyone inside the structure.”
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Bellingham Fire Department investigators and police officials were observed Monday morning putting on respirators before entering the structure at Harris Avenue and 11th Street, where they pulled out chairs, binders and notebooks during the search.
The fire destroyed the cafe and coffeehouse, formerly Tony’s Coffee, in addition to several offices on the second floor.
Originally constructed in 1888, the Fairhaven Terminal Building was the oldest surviving continuously occupied commercial building in Fairhaven, according to the city’s release.
Fire department officials told Cascadia Daily News there were no sprinklers in the landmark structure. The building pre-dates the requirement for installation.
Firefighters who responded to the scene Saturday night attempted to take the offense by entering the building. Within minutes the team saw the floorboards buckling and were forced to retreat, taking a defensive approach to the fire, explained Hewett.
By about 3:30 a.m. they had the fire contained.
Paul Han, owner of Dirty Dan Harris’ Steakhouse, next to the Terminal Building, said in order to prevent the fire from spreading, firefighters sprayed water inside and outside their building. Though mostly protected from the flames, the restaurant suffered significant water and smoke damage.
Han said he was told by the Fire Marshal that they are not allowed to freely enter the building, located at 1211 11th St, because the Terminal Building might still collapse.
“At this point, I told all of my employees that we won’t be able to open for a few weeks, or who knows, a few months,” he said, noting his concern about employees being out of work. “Our employees, they need help too, especially during the holiday season.”
Reporter Charlotte Alden contributed to this report.
A previous version of this story misidentified the subject of the second photo. The story was updated to reflect his change at 9:33 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 18. Cascadia Daily News regrets this error.
