Vallejo City Hall closed after weekend fire

VALLEJO – Vallejo City Hall is closed on Monday and Tuesday and all meetings scheduled for the next two days have been moved to the neighboring library after a weekend fire caused smoke damage to the council chambers and city offices, city officials said.

The city announced late Monday morning that all meetings scheduled for Monday and Tuesday would be moved to the Vallejo Room of the John F. Kennedy Library, including a City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday evening. 

On Tuesday, city officials said that City Hall would remain closed indefinitely pending the completion of remediation and all public meetings would be held in the library.

A spokesperson for the city said that the power went out in the building early Sunday morning, and a back-up generator failed, causing a fire.  The fire left the building with a "strong smell of smoke."

The power was restored at about 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. "Out of caution for the health and safety of our staff and visitors, we closed City Hall until the air is remediated," the city spokesperson said. There was no other damage to city property and no one was injured.

Beverly Lemay was turned away by a security guard when she arrived with an application to start water service on Monday. 

“I've been trying to do this since I've moved in,” she told the guard. She said she had tried to come on Friday but didn’t know the water department was closed on Fridays.

“This just seems totally inappropriate,” Lemay said. “The hours are so short, nine to three, closed on Friday. How come this doesn't say that?” she said, pointing to her application.

The notices to move the meetings said only that they were moved “due to the unavailability of the Council Chambers.” A security guard at City Hall said that the building was closed due to an “unexpected emergency” but did not specify the emergency. Signs on the front door said that City Hall was closed because of “unforseen circumstances.”

A spokesperson for Vallejo Fire Department did not immediately respond to questions.

Editor's note: this story has been updated with information about the cause of the closure, comments from the city spokesperson, details from Beverly Lemay, and an update on the status Tuesday.