Tag Archives: Madison Fire Department

Fire Closes Plan B, Possibly Until New Years

Posted on by
Reply

Electrical fire causes no injuries, but $10,000 in damage

Fire_12232014_CWAn electrical fire broke out inside Plan B nightclub Tuesday morning (December 23) around 10:15 a.m. causing $10,000 damage and closed Williamson Street for approximately 30 minutes as Madison Fire Department crews from Fire Station #3 responded to the incident.

Two cleaning women discovered the fire when they entered the building, but initially thought it was smoke from a fog machine since it was located near the dance floor. Concrete contractors working next door on the Madison Sourdough expansion noticed smoke coming through the shared wall and responded with fire extinguishers after the smoke intensified blunting most of the fire’s advance according to MFD Spokeswoman Bernadette Galvez.

“The cause is a electrical fire…the exact source hasn’t been pinpointed,” Galvez said. “If those guys [the concrete workers] didn’t noticed that, that fire would have taken off.”

Continue reading →

Lapham Kids Retreat to Cargo Coffee Following Suspected Gas Leak

Posted on by
Reply

150 kids given refuge during a temporary evacuation of the school

The entire main floor was teeming with 200 Lapham four year-olds and kindergarteners following a temporary evacuation of the nearby school on April 2, 2014.

The entire main floor of Cargo Coffee (seen here during its grand opening) was teeming with an estimated 150 Lapham four year-olds through first graders following a temporary evacuation of the nearby school on April 2, 2014. -File photo

Lapham Elementary School Staff noticed a natural gas smell in the building around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday (April 2) and a precautionary evacuation was ordered. With approximately 250 children in the school, the nearby Salvation Army building did not have enough space to accommodate the entire school population.

Enter Cargo Coffee East, which just opened in February. Co-owner Lynn Lee (with brother Lindsey) said he received a call from the school asking if they could take some of the overflow. Lee’s daughter Addison is a student at the school and he readily invited the students over. The coffee shop is a veritable educational refuge since the entire east wall of the shop features a large mural depicting a map of the world that was created by Lee who is also an artist.

Approximately 150 students and 25 staff (kindergarten, first grade and four year-olds) were sent to the shop and Lee said he had to “hurry over” to move existing customers to the balcony to accommodate the arrivals. The evacuation lasted half an hour, but Lapham Principal Tammy Thompson Kapp said to Lee in an email that the district is considering adding Cargo East to its evacuation plans. Lee says Cargo will have a written policy for employees to follow should the site be needed again.

Continue reading →

Washing Machine Sparks Fire on Baldwin Street

Posted on by
Reply
Smoke streams from the second floor apartment of 420 south Baldwin Street. No one was hurt in the fire which was started by a washing machine.

Smoke streams from the second floor apartment of 420 South Baldwin Street. No one was hurt in the fire which was started by a washing machine.

Six residents and their three pets are safe after a washing machine caught fire in a second floor laundry room at 420 South Baldwin Street Saturday night. Units from fire stations 1, 3 and 4 were called to the property on the corner of Baldwin and Jenifer just before 10 p.m which caused $125,000 in damage.

Smoke was observed pouring from a second-floor window on the Jenifer street side of the house but firefighters had the fire under control quickly and no flames were observed from the street level. Venting of the residence with fans began soon after as smoke from the fire could be smelled as far away as Jolly Bob’s.  Continue reading →