Volunteers with the city department responded to the fire in the building that houses Fonks Coffeehouse on Main Street. When crews arrived, smoke was already pouring out of all sides of the building and the roof.
The patients were transported by ambulance from the scene of the fire to Whitman Hospital and Medical Center in Colfax. The status of those patients was unknown as of our news time. The building contained apartments in the upper floor.
The fire knocked out the power in Colfax for about an hour. Traffic was also shutdown on Main Street U.S. Highway 195.
Volunteers from Rosalia, Endicott, Garfield, Palouse, Steptoe, Diamond, Albion and Pullman responded. The City of Pullman Fire Department responded with its ladder truck.
No word on what caused the fire or how much damaged was sustained to the adjacent buildings.
