Community members and local businesses are still reeling following a devastating fire that gutted the Terminal Building in Fairhaven and left one person missing and presumed dead.
The building, completed in 1888, housed The Old Independent Coffeehouse and Harris Avenue Cafe, along with other businesses on the second floor. It is the oldest continuously occupied commercial building in Fairhaven.
Here is a day-by-day breakdown of the fire and recovery efforts.
Saturday, Dec. 16
First responders were dispatched to the scene of the two-alarm fire just before midnight Dec. 16.
Wendy Olinger was working an overnight shift as a caregiver in an apartment above 1147 11th St. around 11:45 p.m. Dec. 16 when she heard a man on the street shouting, “Get out of the building! There’s a fire.”
At least five fire trucks arrived to douse the blaze, Olinger said.
Acme Valley Ice Cream Cafe, across the street from the Terminal Building, opened its doors one hour late because the interior smelled like smoke.
Sunday, Dec. 17
Early on Dec. 17, the core business district in Fairhaven smelled strongly of smoke as the fire crew and Bellingham Police Department assessed the building’s interior using drones.
A half-block of Harris Avenue and 11th Street were closed due to the risk of building collapse, and fencing was erected around the premises.
Later in the afternoon, cafe owner Nate Breaux was confirmed to be missing.
Community members and nearby business owners continued to gather in the area to mourn the loss of the neighborhood landmark. Observers of the scene said they felt sad because the building’s studs are blackened and it looks as if the building’s brick structure may not be able to be saved.
Monday, Dec. 18
Community members and local businesses began stepping up to provide for employees impacted by the fire.
A GoFundMe to cover lost wages for employees in the coming weeks, organized by Eve Rivera on behalf of Jackson Bannister-Aumell, general manager of the two businesses, met its goal of $70,000 in 48 hours.
In a Dec. 18 update, Bannister-Aumell and Rivera wrote that they were “overwhelmed” with the support received so far. They wrote that they were in contact with Breaux’s family, who came to Bellingham after reporting him missing. The search for victims was suspended the afternoon of Dec. 18 until Dec. 19.
Tuesday, Dec. 19
Contractors started work Dec. 19 to dismantle the fire-ravaged building brick-by-brick to aid the search for potential victims. The search of the site for victims by fire investigators was limited due to the building’s unstable condition.
Contractors aimed to remove the heavily damaged corner pieces at the top of the building before carefully removing the bricks of the 135-year-old building. The goal was to take the bricks down as far as the bottom rail of the second-story windows and then re-evaluate the situation.
The short-term goal was to make it safe for investigators to conduct a thorough search of the building.
Wednesday, Dec. 20
Darin MacGillivray, acting building official from the City of Bellingham, said crews must wait for special containers to arrive to dispose of asbestos-containing debris from the interior of the building before the search for “potential victims” resumed.
He said they hoped to provide closure for Breaux’s family as soon as possible.
The upper story wall on the front of the Terminal Building partially collapsed, as workers tried to stabilize the building to prevent a more catastrophic collapse.
Thursday, Dec. 21
Breaux’s family members released a statement Dec. 21, saying the two beloved Bellingham establishments were “his life.”
“His passion for healthy, wholesome food was visible in every dish, where almost everything was made from scratch and sourced from local vendors,” the family said.
“He wanted nothing more than for the cafe to be a place for the community to come together and enjoy a warm atmosphere and good food, in a beautiful historic building that held decades of memories.”
As family members grieved, crews continued to work through the week demolishing the top floor of the building and shoring up portions of the remaining structure to allow a more thorough search.
Friday, Dec. 22
Contractors made the initial cuts to bring down another section of the building the afternoon of Dec. 22 as they methodically worked to make the site safe for search teams.
The goal is to avoid disturbances to the fire investigation, explained Tyson Card of Boss Construction, which was hired to perform the initial demolition.
Crew members worked together to chainsaw the siding and sheathing of a section of the eastern wall. Once the second-story wall was removed, the crew would be able to start removing internal components of the structure, officially making it an asbestos-removal project.
Saturday, Dec. 23
From morning to nightfall, Boss Construction crews used an excavator to fill up asbestos containers with debris, while search teams and four search dogs scoured the site for Breaux.
The kitchen area in the back portion of the cafe was the main focus area, while a police-operated drone hovered above most of the day. Despite the efforts, Breaux’s remains had not yet been located. The search will likely resume Tuesday, Dec. 26.
Tuesday, Dec. 26
A body was recovered from inside the Terminal Building just before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Crews in hazmat suits were on site early on Dec. 26, to resume the search, using a CAT excavator and a chainsaw to cut into the Terminal Building where The Old Independent Coffeehouse used to be. The body was located in the cafe side of the building.
Investigators notified the Whatcom County Medical Examiner, who responded to the scene and removed the body for identification and further examination, according to a City of Bellingham news release.
The Medical Examiner’s Office will release the identity of the individual, although investigators were able to make a preliminary identification, the release stated.
The family of missing cafe owner Nate Breaux grieved for him on Tuesday.
About 40 minutes after the body was removed, site officials and Nate’s family led a prayer and song for those gathered. The family thanked all of the people on site for their hard work in searching for Nate.
“It’s been an unbelievably hard ten days,” said Belinda Breaux, Nate’s mother.
