Fire in food court forces evacuation of Mall of Georgia

BUFORD, Ga. — Early Tuesday morning, the Mall of Georgia in Buford was the site of a fire in the food court. Officials said the cause was accidental.

According to the Gwinnett County Fire Department, a bystander called in the fire around 5:40 a.m.

When fire crews arrived at the mall, they “found a large three-story commercial structure with nothing showing from the roofline.”

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Additional firefighters were sent to the mall, where officials say they found a fire on the first floor in a storage room behind one of the food court restaurants.

Low visibility made finding the “seat of the fire” difficult, but the mall’s sprinkler system helped keep the fire in check.

Firefighters used a hose line to finish putting the flames out, and the building’s ventilation system was used to get smoke out of the main part of the mall.

The fire department said extra fans were brought in to ventilate the hallway and fire room.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Look up, Georgia! Air Force conducting flyover today to celebrate 100 years of aerial refueling
• Customers thought they were driving off with new cars. Police say employees took their money instead
• Mother dies after stepping onto ant hill in Gwinnett County

Workers and security personnel were evacuated from the mall and no one was reported injured, though the fire department confirmed there was “heavy fire damage” contained to the storage room.

The fire damage did not impact any other parts of the mall, according to officials.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 4

Fire in food court forces evacuation of Mall of Georgia (Gwinnett County Fire Department)

Mall of Georgia representatives were contacted by security staff at the mall.

Control of the building was returned to mall representatives after, and maintenance staff told the fire department they would let them know when the sprinkler system was restored to the building.

An investigation into the cause of the fire by Gwinnett County Fire officials found that the fire was electrical in nature and had started by a light fixture. They said it was accidental.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

OTHER NEWS:

Police searching for car salesmen accused of stealing thousands of dollars from customers

©2022 Cox Media Group