Sonoma community rallies around burned-out business

The Sonoma community is rallying around local business Illusions Lighting Design in the wake of a two-alarm fire that destroyed the company's office and warehouse on Tuesday.|

The Sonoma community is rallying around local business Illusions Lighting Design in the wake of a two-alarm fire on Tuesday that destroyed the company’s office and warehouse on Eighth Street East.

The fire broke out around 3:30 p.m., roaring through the 9,000-square-foot concrete building and consuming the lighting, video and sound equipment of the family-owned business. Firefighters from agencies including Sonoma Valley Fire & Rescue contained the blaze around 5:30 p.m.

No one was injured, but “we lost everything,” said Larry Ginesi, who owns and runs Illusions with his wife Claire and sons Chris and Tony. As fire officials investigate the cause, the community is showing its support for the Sonoma business, which has been around since 2001.

“Illusions Lighting Design handles the lights at a lot of our community events ... and did a beautiful job of lighting my wedding one month ago today,” said City Councilwoman Rachel Hundley in an email the day of the fire.

“It was a joy to work with Larry Ginesi, whose passion for what he does shows in his beautiful work. It’s heartbreaking to see a local family-run business suffer such a setback,” the councilwoman added.

The company supplies such things as backdrops, chandeliers, lighting and video for the events it services.

A representative of La Luz Center, the primary Sonoma Valley resource for disadvantaged families, is working to raise money to help the business get back on its feet.

“We have been working with them for 10 years,” said Marcelo Defreitas, who chairs the board of directors of La Luz Center. “They are so generous with their time. They always give us discounts.

“Now it’s time for us to step up and give back,” Defreitas said. La Luz is collecting donations to help the business get back on its feet, he said. The board chair said donations can be sent to La Luz Center, 17560 Greger St., Sonoma, CA 95476.

In a scene painfully reminiscent of those that played out at thousands of North Bay residences in October 2017 and are now occurring in the town of Paradise, Larry Ginesi stood outside the shell of his destroyed business Wednesday endeavoring to salvage what he could.

“I can’t even begin to come up with a number,” he said with regard to the cost of the damage.

When firefighters first arrived at the blaze, they hoped to save the building, but the fire had already spread too far, a fire captain said.

“My initial thought was, ‘We might be able to get this,’” said Sonoma Valley fire Capt. Brian Cyr, who commanded the firefighting effort. Other responders included the Schell-Vista Fire Protection District, the Kenwood Fire Protection District, Petaluma Fire Department, Sonoma Valley Fire & Rescue Authority, City of Napa Fire, Cal Fire and Napa County Fire.

However, “As soon as we opened up that first big metal roll-up door, we saw a wall of fire inside,” Cyr said. Just minutes later, as firefighters attacked the blaze, the roof fell in, he said.

“There was one corner in the back that was relatively unaffected, some water damage. The front offices didn’t burn but suffered smoke and water damage,” Cyr said. Fire officials are investigating the yet-unknown cause.

Larry Ginesi said, “The Disney collection is about all that is salvageable,” referring to his prized 20-year collection from the Magic Kingdom. Boxes and boxes of memorabilia were spread out on the asphalt outside the building Wednesday, with a smiling statue of Mickey Mouse perched in the back of a parked truck lending a painful note of irony.

A silver lining: “Most of our business is weddings,” he said. “We are quieter this time of year. Spring through October is our busiest time.”

This will hopefully give the business time to regroup. The hardest part, he said: Finding a space.

“We had 5,500 square feet. Space is tight around here,” Ginesi said.

While the bulk of its customers are couples getting married, Illusions also has steady nonprofit clients including the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, La Luz and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley.

“They are incredible,” said Carolyn Cadigan, director of marketing and events at Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley. “They make every vision happen, and they do it with so much grace and enthusiasm. We are blessed to have them. We are heartbroken for their loss.”

As he stood outside the wrecked building reeking of smoke Wednesday, Ginesi said, “We’re doing a job for the Boys & Girls Club tomorrow,” referring to the agency’s annual Youth of the Year event scheduled for Thursday.

As luck would have it, Ginesi had already packed the equipment for the event on the company truck before the fire. It is the only equipment he didn’t lose.

When Cadigan, the woman in charge of the Youth of the Year event, heard about the fire, she assumed Illusions couldn’t do the job.

“I emailed Larry and said, ‘I’m so sorry about the fire. We were planning on seeing you tomorrow, but don’t worry, we have it all handled,’ Cadigan said Wednesday.

“He responded and said, ‘The truck is packed and we’ll be there,’” Cadigan said.

“The show must go on,” Ginesi said.

Reach Janis Mara at janis.mara@sonomanews.com.

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