Adam Hinch | Daily Press Firefighters work to put out a fire at the Bonifas Arts Center in Escanaba Thursday night.

ESCANABA —  A lighting strike was determined to be the cause of the fire at the Bonifas Fine Arts Center on Thursday night.

“We had the local fire inspector come in. It does seem like it has been established that it was a lightning strike to the roof of the theater area that caused the fire,” said Bonifas Executive Director Chelsea Hart.

“But we will still have to have our insurance companies come out and do their inspection and everything to get the process started.”

According to Escanaba Public Safety, at 10:21 p.m. on Thursday, officers were dispatched for a fire alarm at the Bonifas Fine Arts Center located at 700 1st Avenue South in Escanaba.

Officers immediately began deploying attack lines and attempted to locate the fire inside the building through heavy smoke. The fire was located and extinguished; then efforts were focused on evacuating the smoke and salvaging the building.

“It was kind of right in the middle of the roof over our theatre area, and then they had to cut open the side of the building to gain access. So there’s two holes there, and then there’s the hole in the roof where the fire was,” Hart explained.

She said the water damage was more significant than the damage caused by the fire.

“It has completely soaked the theater area, it ran into the pit of the theater, and then that went into our basement,” she said.

She said the water was a few inches deep, roughly ankle-level.

The building’s drains took care of some of the water throughout the night and early morning, but significant cleanup is still needed to the carpets in the green room and theatre.

Smoke also filled the entire building, and Hart is unsure if the smoke significantly damaged any of the artwork.

“This particular show was a lot of people (who) came in with work that was metal. So I don’t think that will be impacted,” Hart said.

She said there may be minor damage to items in the gallery, but the damage mostly impacted the theatre side.

Hart added that there was significant damage to the sound area of the theatre, as it houses a large amount of electronics.

“The electronics, the equipment, those types of items were either destroyed or there will be very minimal that we can get out of there,” she said.

Hart is optimistic about the gallery opening sooner rather than later for the local artists and classes the center hosts.

“We’re hoping can we can get that back up and running pretty quickly for our classes and our artists, but we’ll have to see what the insurance company says,” she said.

Hart said the center has been in contact with its insurance company, but a date for an inspector to come out has not been set.

For the time being, the building is closed to the public.

Hart and the Bonifas are currently working to find other venues for the Missoula Children’s Theatre and a local dance group’s performance.

“We’re looking to pivot somewhere else so that we can still have those events but obviously in a much safer place,” she said.

Staff will be in and out as soon as the smoke clears to retrieve equipment, but there is no set date for when the gallery or theatre will open.

“We’re getting some equipment and things that we need so that we can continue payroll, and those types of things, some historic items that we want to get out of there. But other than that, it will be closed, and we’ll let people know when we can reopen it,” Hart said.

Luckily, Players de Noc just recently wrapped up their last show for the season — they’ll be back in the fall — so set pieces and costumes were not impacted.

“The theater season was done; all of the costumes were out (and) all of the wood that they built the set (with), so the silver lining of this was that no one was there, everything was wrapped up. So, it’s probably about as minimal as the damage could be from something like this,” she said.

Hart said she and others were grateful for the outpouring of support from the community.

“There has been such a great outpouring of people reaching out personally through our social media. There’s such love and care for the Bonifas in this community,” she said.

She said people all across the Upper Peninsula have reached out to the Bonifas to show love and support for the center and its members.

“It’s just such a pillar of this arts and culture community. So people love it and care about it, and they want to help in any way they can,” Hart said.

Hart is hopeful insurance will cover the majority of the cost, but there could be other fees and expenses that may pop up.

“If people want to donate, that would be fantastic,” she said.

The Bonifas is active on its Facebook page, and Hart says she and the center will post updates as they have them.

To learn more about the Bonifas, donate, become a member, or find other information, visit bonifasarts.org.

The center can be found on Facebook at the Bonifas Arts Center.

Escanaba Public Safety would like to thank the following for their assistance during the incident: Delta County Central Dispatch, Ford River Fire Department, Escanaba Township Fire Department, Delta County Sheriff’s Office, DTE, Escanaba Electric Department, and the staff of the Bonifas Fine Arts Center.