At 11:53 pm Wednesday, firefighters responded to a fast-moving structure fire at Lafayette Circle and Whitten Lane Wednesday in Lafayette.
According to News 24-680, the office cluster housing the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and La Finestra restaurant as well as other business offices.
By 12:30 am, a 4-alarm fire response was requested due to a recent change in response plan that CONFIRE recently upgraded.
Firefighters are declaring the building at 100 Lafayette Circle a total loss. No injuries were reported.
Contra Costa County Fire District firefighters were called to the area, a cluster of wood-shingled, two-story office buildings, shortly before midnight. The first firefighters on the scene were met with heavy smoke and flame.
Subsequent fire personnel assumed defensive fire positions around the area’s many restaurants, including Chow and American Kitchen, as a fairly rare 4th Alarm was called. Firefighters and NEWS24-680 readers at the scene reported drifting embers falling on the surrounding neighborhood, some thudding into them some distance away from the scene of the blaze.
According to Contra Costa County Fire, the damages were listed at $1.1 million. As of 5:52 am, firefighters were still on scene.
