UPDATE:
A fire at Party Central on Cameron Street in Lafayette left the building heavily damaged and shut down the 3000 block for several hours.
Melanie Daigle says she could hear the “Booms” from combustibles exploding. “We heard an explosion! I ran to the back to see if something had happened in the shop, that’s when one of the guys noticed the building on the side had caught fire.”
Daigle says she quickly called 911, and at one point even diverted traffic until police and fire fighters arrived.
“We’ve got 18 units on the scene so we’re probably going to be here a while trying to get this fire out and going in there to make sure that what we learned when we got here is exactly what happened” says Lafayette Fire Chief, Robert Benoit.
It took firefighters about 45 minutes to put the fire out. According to Co-Owner, Frank Gerami III, he says one of the two employees was inside was working when the fire started. “One of our guys was welding on a piece of equipment, something went up in flames. He’s not really sure exactly what happened.”
Even with most of the building reduced to rubble, Gerami remains optimistic. He says, “The building, everything else in there is stuff that can be replaced. Our main concern was that the individuals got out safe which they did and we’re happy about that.”
Firefighters say the heat from welding ignited combustible material on a truck. The fire spread from the vehicle to other parts of the workshop. The fire is being ruled an accident.
Earlier story:
Firefighters responded to a two alarm fire at Party Central, located on the corner of Cameron Street and Bertrand Drive.
Fire Chief Robert Benoit said the fire started around 9:33 a.m. in a warehouse that is connected to the store.
Crews arrived at about 9:39 a.m. Party Central and another business owned by the store caught on fire.
Firefighters have the flames under control, according to Chief Benoit. He adds the fire “should be out in the next five minutes.”
Witnesses told The Daily Advertiser that they heard sounds of tanks exploding inside Party Central.
Frank Gerami, co-owner of Party Central, told KLFY’s Dalfred Jones that an employee was welding when the fire started.
There were only two or three employees inside when the fire started and they all made it out safely, according to Gerami.The following is a release from the Lafayette Police Department:
Shortly after 9:30 this morning, Lafayette firefighters responded to the 3100 block of Cameron Street to a reported commercial fire at Party Central/ Acadiana Trailers. When firefighters arrived on scene, heavy smoke and flames were coming from the building. The building consisted of an office area and a work shop. The fire was concentrated in the work shop.
The two alarm blaze took firefighters approximately forty-five minutes to get under control. Part of the building was utilized as storage for Party Central equipment which possessed all types of combustibles, particularly plastics. The heavy smoke was a result of the plastics and other materials burning.
There were two employees at the business when the fire started. The initial fire appears to have started with a vehicle being worked on. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Firefighters are still on the scene putting out spot fires. Cameron Street remains closed in this area.
