the LAVA House on fire, Louisville KY, 1-26-2008

All 17,000 sf of the LAVA House caught fire and burned to the ground on January 27th, 2008. The flames, which whipped into the air as high as 140 feet, were visible from miles away, from I-64 and the 2nd St. Bridge.

The building was home to the Louisville Assembly of Vanguard Art (LAVA), an art collective that operated out of the space for 6.5 years.

Mr. Bill Christie was severely burned in the fire and passed away the following morning.

from thelavahouse.org webpage:

"This is what happened...
(written Jan. 27th, 2008)
As many of you know by now, the LAVA House completely burned to the ground last night/this morning. We're all devastated, completely speechless, and heartbroken at the enormity of this tragedy. Mr. Bill died at University hospital this morning, after making it though the
night. Thank god he is now free from the condition he was in last night.

Bart and Hannah lost everything they owned, their home, studio, tools and artwork. Seed also lived there and lost all his possessions and one of his dogs did not make it out. Their lives burned up in that fire. We have gathered up a list of things that they need, and have distributed it to the community and posted it on this website.

After hearing screams for help and seeing smoke bellowing out of the door, Scott Belcher ran into Bill's burning trailer with a fire extinguisher and pulled him out on fire, risking his own life to save Bill's. Scott is a hero. Thanks to Scott, we were all able to say our final words to Bill and have the peace of mind while watching this building burn down, knowing that Bill was not
trapped inside. I am not sure but think that Bart and Chad helped Scott to get Bill out of the warehouse after Scott pulled him out of the trailer. Hannah and Bart had been in the living part of the warehouse and were able to get out safely. They had some smoke inhalation, but no injuries.

People are talking about hosting benefits to help out. Obviously, a whole lot was lost that is irreplaceable. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in art, materials,
tools, etc, are now lost forever.Aron and Hallie heard the sirens from thier bedroom and muted the TV and Hallie said 'I hope its not the LAVA House'.... Aron ran outside to look and came back in screaming to get up. Both ran down the street, Hallie screaming and crying in
disbelief, saying 'where's Bill?' When they got down there (200 ft.), the fire was still over on Bill's side of the warehouse. We all watched helplessly as it rapidly spread into the bay door, Aron and Hallie's studios, and then the rest of the art collective's side of the warehouse, then on to the residential house.

Its a nightmare. What more can be said? The Louisville Assembly of Vanguard
Art (poetically named LAVA) goes down in a blaze of glory.Thank you to everyone who has called, stopped by, emailed us, and generally showed their support. Please spend some time on this website that we have built in a day. Please excuse any inaccuracies or typos we overlooked."

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• LAVA
• House
• Germantown
• Louisville
• Aron
• Conaway
• Hallie
• Jones
• Fire
• FIrefighters
• smoke
• art

[louky264]

Perhaps there was a secret volcanic vent under the house that just decided to erupt that night. Oh shit im saying Kentucky has volcanoes!!!! Not!!Anyhow its stayin trrue to its name by providing free winter heating to the entire neighborhood!! Yo what part of the ville was the in anyways? Pardon the sarcasm fellas.

[thelavahouse]

@louky264

It was in Germantown, just south of Oak and the railroad lines.

[mschneider18xx]

Agree with Rockkelley; that is some grotesquely incompetent firefighting -- why are tossing water on the roof instead of blasting it straight into the window of the room on the left? The right part of the building should have been saved, but they just LET the whole fucking thing burn down.

[thelavahouse]

@mschneider18xx It was a 17,000 sf, 35 foot tall building that was 120 years old and burnt down in 45 minutes. All the giant timbers were soaked in oil from over a century of industrial work. There were solvents, paints, kerosene, propane tanks, all sorts of stuff. The building was shelled in with corrugated steel sheeting, which the water hoses couldn't penetrate.

[thelavahouse]

@mschneider18xx Even in the 20 degree weather, they couldn't have saved much of anything and their main concern was the entire block of houses on the other side of the street whose vinyl siding was melting off the walls.

[Center4Neighborhoods]

yes. a 66 year old man named Bill Christie and a dog named Helvis.

[SuperSuperMarioMan]

it said lava on the building

[KayzaLynnRocks]

Why do people like this video??? Its sad and horrible!

[TheCartoonMaker96]

lol, so im watchng this video & im looking to the right to see other related videos, but the first suggestion video i see is "Get rid of Bed Bugs" TF?! LOL

[bigvandave]

Never More..

[TwilightMonster1254]

No Wonder They Call It Lava House.. It Probably Took Like 6 Hours To Put That Fire

[APinCF1224]

kids this is why we dont play with matches.

[superBrando555]

that has to be a real bummer