Bon Marche Thrift Shop Donations Destroyed In Warehouse Blaze

The cause of a 3-alarm fire that destroyed the Bon Marche thrift store warehouse in Sonoma Thursday is believed to be accidental, a fire battalion chief said this morning.

The fire at 19445 Riverside Drive was reported at 9:30 a.m. and quickly went to two alarms.

The fire started in a break room where there was a hot plate, refrigerator and microwave oven, Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue Department Chief John Franceschi said.

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The roof of the approximately 5,000-square-foot warehouse collapsed and the blaze destroyed clothing, books and other donated items, Franceschi said.

“It was chock full of donated items. The fire load was tremendous. The business is closed, it will have to relocate,” Franceschi said.

The thrift store is a unit of the Kigali Center for Entrepreneurs and its mission is to provide women and genocide survivors in Rwanda with financial aid start their own businesses, according to the store’s website.

The store’s employees were getting ready for work when the fire started and one of them tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher but it quickly spread, Franceschi said.

Sixty-five firefighters contained the blaze around noon, and mop-up operations continued until around 4 p.m., Franceschi said.

Some firefighters remained at the warehouse overnight but were released this morning.

Firefighters from Sonoma, Schell-Vista, Glen Ellen, Kenwood, Cal Fire, Petaluma and Santa Rosa responded to the fire.

--Bay City News

--Image via Shutterstock