Patrick Hipes
UPDATED with HBO venue reopening to staff: The HBO “Penguin Lounge” activation in San Diego’s Gaslamp district has reopened to staff, about 90 minutes after being evacuated due to a structure fire in a nearby building.
Patrons were seen entering a side door on E Street around 8:55 p.m. at 919 Fourth Street, the nightclub that is hosting the activation during Comic-Con to promote the upcoming Batman series The Penguin starring Colin Farrell.
PREVIOUSLY, 7:51 p.m.: Press and attendees at the Bloom Nightclub in San Diego, aka HBO’s the Penguin Lounge activation during Comic-Con week, were evacuated Friday night as firefighters battled a structure fire in a nearby building.
Upon exiting the Gaslamp District venue at around 7:30 p.m., attendees were greeted by multiple fire trucks and police on the scene, and two ladders were in use extended to the top of a three-story building nearby. Smoke could be seen billowing into the evening sky.
San Diego Police Captain Adam Sharki told Deadline that the fire started at a building in the 900 block of Fourth Avenue near Broadway. The City of San Diego said the fire began at the Rei Do Gado Brazilian Steakhouse, located at 939 Fourth Avenue, and officials were working to determine it didn’t spread before allowing patrons back into the surrounding venues.
The HBO activation, designed to promote the upcoming Batman series The Penguin starring Colin Farrell, is located at 919 Fourth Avenue near E Street. According to police on the scene, the entire block was cordoned off.
Sharki said no further evacuations were planned but warned that Fourth and Broadway was gridlocked with traffic on a busy Comic-Con weekend as firefighters worked the scene.
No cause has been determined, and there were no reports of injuries.