On stage. The Eau Claire-based acoustic band Woodland Spring.

Crowd first figured a fog machine was berserk

EAU CLAIRE, Wis.  — Firefighters ushered a full house of patrons out of the downtown Mousetrap Tavern as smoke began pouring in from a fire in a framing shop next door. This was about 1 a.m. Everyone made it to safety, including the local acoustic band Woodland Spring. Bartender Ryan Bohlinger described the evacuation was hectic: “All of a sudden, a bunch of smoke was coming into the stage side which I thought was just part of the show.” Guitarist Caleb Horne described the scene this way in a WEAU interview:

“All of a sudden, the fans started saying, ‘Hey, is that your fog machine? Is your fog machine on?’ And we said, ‘Well, we don’t have a fog machine at all.’ Not only was the smoke this kind of electric-smelling, kind of awful smoke, but it got to a point, maybe in 60 seconds where you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face. It was that bad.”

The fire was in the B-Framed Galleries shop in a side-by-side structure.  The cause was not determined immediately.

Packed together store fronts. On Barstow Avenue. Mousetrap is the one-story structure. Just beyond is B-Framed Galleries