Fire causes extensive damage at Sonoma warehouse owned by controversial developer

A two-alarm fire broke out at a 15,000-square-foot warehouse in Sonoma on Friday night, causing extensive damage and requiring the response of 30 personnel and about 10 firefighting vehicles.

The Schell-Vista Fire Protection District and Sonoma Valley Fire District led efforts to extinguish the fire at 21885 Eighth St. E. in Sonoma, which was reported at 10:46 p.m. by an ambulance unit returning from an unrelated call.

The fire was mostly contained just before 1 a.m., though it took hours to process the scene, and crews remained overnight to provide security and preserve the area for investigation, according to Schell-Vista Fire Chief Ray Mulas. Officials were still on site at 8 a.m. Saturday, and an investigative unit was arriving to determine the cause of the fire.

“It took thousands of gallons to put this thing down,” Mulas said.

Though no people were present or injured, Luxxbox, an acoustics, lighting and work space design business occupying the warehouse, was “gutted,” Mulas said Saturday morning. “Total loss.”

As the day progressed, though, company officials said that things, surprisingly, were looking up.

"There is no question the fire is devastating but as more information comes to light we've been surprised by how much is salvageable to allow us to continue manufacturing," Kara Chiconi, Luxxbox's director of marketing, "We are fortunate to be a dual-site manufacturer so it means no downtime for our production, which is good news for our team of local employees."

The large commercial building is owned by LeFever Mattson, a property investment company of Ken Mattson, the real estate developer who’s purchased more than 60 properties in Sonoma Valley.

You can reach reporter and “In Your Corner” Columnist Marisa Endicott at 707-521-5470 or marisa.endicott@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @InYourCornerTPD and Facebook @InYourCornerTPD.