AJs Café Closed Due to Fire, Concert Carries On
(Crystal A. Proxmire, 3/22/2011)
As AJs World Record Breaking Attempt Assembly Line Concert Third Shift reached it 58th hour, an electrical fire broke out in the wall near the front door. A quick-thinking concert attendee shot the flames with a portable fire extinguisher, and the Fire Department cut power to the building and made sure that the fire was completely out.
“It happened at about 2am,” said Ferndale Fire Marshall Brian Batten. “They’re lucky they were having the concert then. If no one was in the building it could have reached the void in the ceiling and spread.” Batten said that AJ’s building, located at 240 W. 9 Mile, was constructed in the 20s or 30s with many renovations over the years. “If you think of what the electrical needs were back then compared to what they are now you can imagine how much wiring has been added over the years.”
The damage is limited to the front wall of the building, but is estimated to cost over $3,000 to repair. Electricians have been working on replacing the wiring, while volunteers have been cleaning up the fire extinguisher residue. In the meantime, the concert has moved outside with acoustical guitars providing the accompaniment to songs sung without a microphone. In order to reclaim their Guinness World Record, music must continue uninterrupted for the entire 360 hours which it is scheduled. Now at Hour 67 (11am on March 22), the music carries on.
Batten said that he expects the café will re-open sometime this afternoon.