Old Sacramento favorite Evangeline’s Costume Mansion damaged in morning fire
Sacramento firefighters knocked down an early morning blaze Tuesday at Evangeline’s Costume Mansion in Old Sacramento, leaving the building’s structure intact and only the first floor’s interior damaged.
The fire at the longtime costume store and gift shop in the 100 block of K Street broke out just after 1 a.m., said Sacramento Fire Department officials via social media. Fire officials described “cold, dense smoke” coming from the business and the building’s sprinkler system activated.
Evangeline’s celebrated 50 years in business at the historic Howard House and Lady Adams buildings in July 2024.
No one was hurt in the blaze. Department officials are investigating the cause of the fire.
The shop’s owner, Deborah Chaussé, said the fire was “most likely caused by an electrical problem.”
Firefighters found flames on the business’ first floor and quickly knocked down the blaze. Fire Department video from the scene showed engine crews from several stations attacking the fire from the ground and aboard ladder trucks training hoses onto the building from above.
Chaussé said about half of the first floor, which contains the shop’s gift offerings, was destroyed; the products stored there were largely ruined by the sprinklers. The signature costume section on the second and third floors was unaffected, she said.
“The water saved the building, and that’s the most important thing,” she said, adding that she arrived at about 1:30 a.m. to see the street lined with fire trucks. “The merchandise will be replaced.”
A restoration team was assessing the building’s interior by mid-morning.
Shari Coomes, the owner of McGee’s Old Time Photos, which is next door Evangeline’s, said the store’s smoke alarm had gone off and a firefighter had knocked down her store’s back door, but the fire caused no damage.
Jen Kossmann, who said she has worked at Evangeline’s for about three decades, recalled that she was woken up at about 2 a.m. by a call from a colleague about the fire. Currently tasked with handling special projects and signage, Kossmann arrived at the scene with a stack of signs announcing that the store was temporarily closed.
Chaussé estimated that the costume floors will reopen in one or two weeks, and the first-floor gift section in one or two months following renovations.
The first floor includes toys, T-shirts, buttons and other gift options, as well as aliens- and Bigfoot-themed sections, Kossmann said. She said she and her colleagues like seeing customers’ reactions to the store’s eclectic merchandise.
“We really enjoy especially people when it’s their first time and they’re discovering everything anew and afresh and they’re just having so much fun ping-ponging around,” she said.
Tuesday was not the first time the Lady Adams Building had survived a fire.
Built in 1852 by the Lady Adams Mercantile Co., the building was the only one in the area to survive a citywide blaze that year, according to a historical narrative posted on an Evangeline’s window, because it was constructed with brick, not only wood. And Chaussé said she had seen a “small fire” there about 30 years ago.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
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