3 Alarm Commercial Fire in Fairfax

Quick action by firefighters and several employees helped save a Fairfax nightclub during a three-alarm fire Saturday night.

The blaze at the 19 Broadway Niteclub, a fixture on the live music scene for 30 years, gutted an upstairs apartment as dozens of people who had been evacuated from the club and nearby buildings watched from the street.

No one was hurt and the cause of the fire was under investigation Sunday, said Ross Valley Fire Department spokeswoman JoAnne Lewis. She said investigators assessed the damage at $600,000 – $400,000 for structure damage and $200,000 for the contents.

There were eight engines and five chiefs working the fire, Lewis said. Participating departments were from Ross Valley, Marin County, Ross, Kentfield, Larkspur and San Rafael.

Lewis said the call got a large response from area fire departments because buildings in downtown Fairfax are close together and the fire could have easily spread.

The sprinkler system worked perfectly, Graham said.

Tera Ferguson of the Sleeping Lady restaurant and bar at 23 Broadway evacuated a full house of customers who had come to see local rocker Bonnie Hayes. Between songs, a customer who had monitored the fire advised Ferguson to get people out. Many customers had not paid their dinner bill yet.

“I said, ‘I don’t care if you’ve paid, please get out safely,’” Ferguson said. “Later, people came back and told me where they were sitting so they could take care of the bill.”

Ferguson said she saw a hole in the charred wall where firefighters had gained access to an upstairs apartment. “You can see into the room and there’s a lot of smoke damage,” she said.

Story and Photos by Marin Independent Journal