A body was recovered from inside the fire-ravaged Terminal Building just before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Fairhaven.
Crews in hazmat suits were on site early Tuesday, Dec. 26, to resume the search for “potential victims” of a Dec. 16 fire. Harris Avenue Cafe, The Old Independent Coffeehouse and multiple private businesses were housed in the 135-year-old historic building.
Cafe owner Nate Breaux was declared missing after the fire, and his family believed his body remained inside the building, they said in a Thursday, Dec. 21 statement.
Upon locating a body in The Old Independent 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.
Breaux’s family, who arrived in Bellingham from out of town and has been largely on site for the searches, grieved for Breaux 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.
Patrick Curry, a Whatcom County Support Officer, led the prayer and opened the small ceremony.
“This is a tragic situation that’s impacted so many people,” Curry said before reciting an opening prayer.
Family, friends and site workers sang “Amazing Grace” together, as it’s a song Belinda sang to Nate when he was a child, Curry said.
“I don’t know where you guys hide your superman capes. I don’t know where you hide your angel wings,” Randy Breaux, Nate’s father, said to the workers.
Randy said Nate was very proud to be part of the Bellingham community.
“We hope every time you lift a glass of any kind, you will cheers and you will clink glasses, touch the table, and ‘For Nate,’ whether it’s water or his favorite tequila,” Belinda said to the crowd.
Investigators will continue sifting through debris and evaluating the building for an “unknown amount of time,” Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Hewett said.
“Our biggest priority has always been trying to complete a search of the building,” Hewett said in an on-site interview. “So now it’ll become more focused on looking at trying to identify the origin within the building. From there, we can hopefully determine the cause.”
On Tuesday morning, support officers set up tarps, chairs and a heater for Nate’s family.
Police and fire vehicles lined up along to road to provide privacy in anticipation of finding a body.
Audra Anderson contributed to the writing of this story.
