Officials: 2-Alarm Fire Breaks Out At Deja Vu Nightclub In Allentown
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Firefighters battled a two-alarm fire at an Allentown nightclub. The blaze broke out at Deja Vu nightclub, located on the 300 block of Hamilton St, sometime after 3 a.m. Sunday.
As thick black smoke filled the lounge, Linc Fowler was focused on finding the quickest and safest escape for his girlfriend and their children.
The family lives in one of the upstairs apartments.
"The door at the bottom wasn't open and when I first opened the door, you couldn't even see the stairs," Fowler said. "I thought we were going to have to use the fire escape in the back."
Authorities say Fowler and nine other residents, now displaced made it out unharmed after the flames erupted.
The fire chief says one firefighter was taken to the hospital as a precaution, but he is expected to be OK.
Wood boards now hide the smoke and fire damage, mainly in the first-floor business, according to the fire marshal.
But it does not hide the painful memory of a shooting in front of the nightclub that left 10 people injured last June.
"We were looking to move so this might be the extra boost to get us to really move," Fowler said.
A man who identified himself as the clubs manager refused to talk on camera but tells me he's focused on rebuilding, while residents look ahead.
The American Red Cross is helping families figure out a place to stay.
