Small Electrical Fire at Whisky A Go-Go Prompts Evac During Show

Twitter user Liz Ohanesian was one of the first people to get the word of a fire coming from the long-standing Whisky A-Go-Go rock club last night. She Tweeted: "Roof caught fire at the whisky. Fire dept. has already put it out but westbound sunset strip is closed." But Ohanesian had been next door when she saw the fire department pull up to tend to the flames. Inside, the band Eminent was celebrating their record release and kicking off their US Tour with a gig.

La Crescenta resident Tallin Aghourian, who along with many of her neighbors there had been delighted to have not been under mandatory evacuations due to the Station Fire, was inside enjoying the show. She explains in an email what happened:

About midway through the last song of their set, the power to the stage was cut off, and the house lights came on. No one in the audience knew what was going on and the band kept playing "acoustic" as it were, with slightly puzzled expressions. About 30 seconds later, the band’s promoter bounded up on stage and started motioning for the mic. He yelled out, "THERE'S A FIRE ON THE ROOF! GET THE FUCK OUT!"

There was no fire alarm, no flashing strobe, nothing. Evacuation was quick and orderly, and everyone seemed really calm. Fire crews arrived pretty much as we stepped foot outside.

From across the street just a small billow of smoke was visible as the fire crews, reportedly from LA County Fire and Beverly Hills Fire, worked to handled the blaze. The lights of the building seemed to be entirely out, and a Southern California Edison truck was spotted in the club's lot. For most everyone, their night at the Whisky was definitely over. Notes Aghourian: "After about an hour of waiting, one of the Whisky personnel came out and told us it was all over and to go home. Only people who had left their credit cards at the bar were allowed inside to close their tabs and get their cards. We got no explanation on the cause of the fire." So what happened?