Midnight blaze guts Lafayette Chamber of Commerce

A large fire broke out at a building housing the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday night, completely destroying the structure and an adjoining Italian restaurant and causing more than $1 million in damage, fire officials said.

The buildings were “fully involved” when over 30 firefighters arrived on scene at 11:58 p.m. at 100 Lafayette Circle, said Fire Marshal Robert Marshall of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.

The Chamber of Commerce and La Finestra Ristorante were completely engulfed in flames and “a large portion of the structure collapsed on itself,” Marshall added.

Firefighters brought the conflagration under control in about 90 minutes.

A large fire in Lafayette late Wednesday gutted the Chamber of Commerce and an adjoining Italian restaurant, officials said. A large fire in Lafayette late Wednesday gutted the Chamber of Commerce and an adjoining Italian restaurant, officials said. Photo: KTVU / Julie Haener Photo: KTVU / Julie Haener Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Midnight blaze guts Lafayette Chamber of Commerce 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

There were no reports of injuries. The total cost of damage was estimated at $1.1 million, though Marshall said he expects the cost to go higher.

Residents of adjacent apartment buildings were evacuated for about an hour.

“That was primarily because the restaurant had some heaters that ran on propane that were outside of the structure, quite a few of them were popping off,” Marshall said. “When that was going on, we had a concern that the fire might spread.”

Officials were also concerned about the radiant heat and that the fire might spread to nearby vegetation.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Marshall said.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani