[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The Madison Police Department is investigating a fire that caused $150,000 worth of damage to the Palace Latin Club Jan. 4.

According to the Madison Fire Department, the fire occurred early in the morning when the club, located at 1401 University Ave., was closed. No one was injured as a result of the fire.

The MPD is investigating the fire as an arson case. If convicted, the arsonist could face up to $100,000 in fines, 40 years imprisonment or both, according to Mike Hanson, public information officer for the MPD.

“They did have an automatic sprinkler system, and that helped contain the fire to the room of origin, which made it a lot easier for our firefighters,” said Eric Dahl, public information officer for the MFD. He added the sprinkler system also helped preserve evidence for the investigation.

Although the sprinkler system lessened the amount of fire damage, the water dispersed from the sprinklers also caused damage to the club and neighboring businesses, including Subway, Coreana and Bob’s Copy Shop.

“We have an excess of $200,000 in damages,” said Carl Pigott, who owns Bob’s Copy Shop with his wife. “When the sprinklers went off in the Latin Club, all the water ran on the floor down into our area.”

Pigott was the one who initially called 911 at the time of the fire.

Despite some printing engines being destroyed, Bob’s Copy Shop was only shut down for about two hours the following day. The store is now fully operational, Pigott said.

But according to Dahl, not all businesses bounced back so quickly.

“Some of those other businesses did have some water damage, and I know they were working with cleanup companies and, in a couple cases, the Health Department to get that reopened,” he said.

Palace Latin Club is located in the space that once housed Luther’s Blues. Like Luther’s Blues, the Latin Club was a venue for live music performances and opened in February 2006.

The owners of Palace Latin Club did not respond to an interview request by The Badger Herald.

Arson at area high school
A student at Madison West High School is tentatively being charged with arson in connection to a fire in the school’s locker room Jan. 9.

According to an MFD release, evacuated faculty and students told the fire department the fire was in the locker room. Firefighters found clothing burning in a locker and quickly extinguished the fire with water.

There was no significant damage to the school building, and firefighters were able to contain damage to “several lockers,” according to a MFD press release. The cost of repair from fire and smoke damage has yet to be determined.

The student, who admitted to Madison police he started the fire, is suspended from school.