LOVELOCK - Two weeks after a fire nearly destroyed the vacant La Belle's Lounge, the Nevada Department of Public Safety's Fire Investigation Unit is still studying the cause of the suspicious blaze, according to Pershing County Fire Chief Chuck Rasco.
Meanwhile, former occupants of the old brothel salvaged a few scorched items but left behind other belongings for demolition, along with the ravaged structure.
The kitchen at the rear of the building was charred while intense heat and smoke blew out all the windows, melted computers and blackened furniture, paintings, dolls and other mementos collected by Roy and Frannie Biggs.
The couple returned to Lovelock from Arizona last week to salvage their valuables from the building they occupied for over 18 years. The couple had attempted to preserve La Belle's as a piece of Lovelock history but quit after last year's vicious vandalism by local teens damaged the deteriorating structure.
Last week, Frannie sadly removed personal belongings and family heirlooms that might be salvageable, like a cream-colored lamp that was completely blackened by the fire. She pointed to an instrument that was a gift from her father but is now covered in soot.
"I might be able to clean it up," she said hopefully. "My guns are ruined and my computer is kaput. Except for what we took to Arizona last year, everything else we owned was in this building."
Biggs had attempted to recreate the original brothel atmosphere and décor, including the mirrored bedrooms, the wooden bar, a music room, an outdoor gazebo and hot tub room.
"I wanted to fix it to what it originally looked like," she said.
"Everybody, even some of the fire department people, said they really felt bad because they knew how much work we had put into it. But then, life goes on."
Years ago, the couple considered renovating the old brothel and re-opening it as a bed and breakfast. Cracked, uninsulated walls made the deteriorated building too expensive to maintain and vandalism finally ended the project.
La Belle's and the property it occupied are now owned by local alfalfa growers who operate the nearby Lovelock Hay Market truck weigh station.
Farmer Alan List said his group had not decided the building's fate until the recent fire made it a safety hazard. The former brothel will soon be hauled in pieces to the county dump, making room for additional big rig parking now that the Biggs' salvage operation is complete, List said.
Access for the salvage operation was limited by safety hazards inside the structure.
"We're trying to get what we can salvage and let the rest go with the house when they demolish it," Roy Biggs said. "There's too much shattered glass and broken stuff inside."
Family friend Dave Johnson helped the couple salvage what little they could from the building and said he was amazed by the extent of heat and smoke damage to the rest of the structure from a fire that was mostly confined to the back kitchen.
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