Crews contain morning structure fire at downtown Bellingham building, home to popular bar

Fire crews responded to a structure fire Wednesday morning in downtown Bellingham.

The fire, at the State Street Bar, 1315 N. State St., was localized mostly in the interior of the bar, although there is smoke damage throughout the two-story building.

No injuries were reported in the fire. One person was safely evacuated from the apartments on the second floor. A cat was also rescued from the building, Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Hewett said.

The call to 911 came in at 8:35 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3. First responders saw heavy smoke coming out the windows. Because State Street Bar shares a wall with neighboring buildings, the potential for fire spread was high, and crews upgraded the call to a two-alarm fire, which allowed access to more resources, Hewett said.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire around 20 minutes after arriving, and the fire did not spread past the bar.

The owner of the neighboring D’Anna’s Cafe told The Herald that firefighters informed him his cafe was not damaged by fire.

The occupant of the apartment who was evacuated was examined on site by medics and was released. The cat is currently in the care of the Bellingham Police Department and will be taken to the Whatcom Humane Society until the owner can be found (the occupant of the apartment was not the owner).

Officials shut down traffic along N. State Street between Holly and Magnolia.

This story was originally published January 3, 2024 at 8:50 AM.