$1.25 Million in Damage : Officials Investigate Blaze That Gutted Party Supply Store

Ventura fire officials Wednesday were still investigating the cause of the spectacular blaze that on Saturday gutted Bonnie’s, the venerable costume and party supply store whose slogan was, “You never saw so much stuff.”

Fire Chief Bob Horne said the flames that swept through the shop and drew thousands of curious onlookers to downtown Ventura did an estimated $1.25 million damage.

“Bonnie’s had a tremendous amount of combustible material in it,” said Horne, adding that the store had been in compliance with city fire codes. “You don’t get a fire like that but every 10 years or so.”

Bonnie Mihalic, who has been in the party supply business for 27 years and had run the shop at 532 E. Main St. for the last 12, said she was saddened by the fire but eager to rebuild.

‘Had Everything’

“We had everything and we had a lot of everything,” Mihalic, who has another store in Oxnard, said this week as she surveyed the charred debris. “We’ll definitely be back.”

The blaze was fed by heavy

stockpiles of party favors, hair spray, toys, Halloween costumes and more than 1,000 cans of “Silly String,” a novelty item that squirts sticky plastic thread at the push of a button.

Despite flames that leaped 100 feet into the air and smoke that drifted several hundred feet higher, the thick brick walls of the 1930s-era building helped keep the fire almost contained. Only minor smoke and water damage was reported by neighboring businesses.

Firefighters from Ventura, Oxnard and Ventura County took about two hours to control the five-alarm blaze. The fire was discovered shortly after 1 p.m. by an employee in the back of the store who yelled that he saw flames and black smoke.

Mihalic dialed the emergency 911 number and shouted for everyone to get out of the store, where eight employees and about a dozen customers were doing a brisk Mother’s Day trade.

“You know what I was thinking?” she said. “Forget about all the stuff in there. I was thinking, Thank God, everybody got out.”