Louisville, KY (WHAS11) - Hotspots still burned Sunday afternoon in the rubble that was once an artist’s haven.

Aron Conaway, the Lava House co-founder said, “We had done a lot of music shows, art shows, made art.  We really just had a community going here.  We were like a little family.”

Donnie Ruark / WHAS11 photojournalist

Firefighters battled the Shelby Park area blaze that destroyed at least two buildings and claimed one life.

Minus one member of that family today—Bill Christie was inside the warehouse when the fire started.  Christie died Sunday afternoon at University hospital.

Witnesses say the blaze may have started in his wood-working shop that was housed inside.

75 firefighters arrived on the scene around quarter to eleven Saturday night—and pulled Bill Christie from the building and evacuated four other residents who lived there.

Capt. Robert Milliner of the Louisville fire dept. said, “Within a short amount of time... within a minute and a half, fire started to shoot through the roof.  We began a defensive operation . . . the roof collapsed, obviously it has collapsed.”

Donnie Ruark / WHAS11 photojournalist

The fire that destroyed the Lava House was so hot, it melted the siding on this nearby home.

Besides the massive blaze, firefighters had another battle; containment.  The blaze threatened nearby homes and many were damaged by fiery debris.  The heat even melted some of the siding on the homes.

Jen Futrell said, “Like I said, this is the wreckage of our dreams.  We’re going to have to get a new warehouse now.”

The Lava House (LAVA is an acronym that stands for the Louisville Assembly of Vanguard Artists) came together in 2001, as a place for artists to rent work-space, but over the years it had become more than that.

Joshua Mather worked at the LAVA house as a metal sculptor and he said, “It’s a tremendous loss.  It’s a huge loss.  People did a lot of really good stuff with beauty out of here.  I know David Caudill worked out of here.  It’s a loss, a big loss.”

But out of the ashes, the family of artists goes on.

Aron Conaway, the Lava House co-founder said, “People will continue to persevere and work on their art.  That’s the point.  This may be a source of inspiration for people to move forward.”

Web story produced by Chas Kuhn