Mall Of Georgia Fire Ruled Accidental, Electrical

BUFORD, GA — The cause of an accidental fire Tuesday at The Mall of Georgia was electrical, according to the Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services.

The fire occurred around 5:45 a.m. at the Buford Drive mall in a storage room near the food court. There were no injuries, and the entire mall was evacuated. According to fire officials, the fire originated around a light fixture.

Representatives from The Mall of Georgia were contacted via security personnel on the scene, who told firefighters they saw smoke in the food court and called 911, fire officials said.

When firefighters arrived, they saw a fire on the first floor of the three-story mall.

The fire was located in a storage room behind one of the restaurants in the food court area of the mall, fire officials said. The building's automatic sprinkler system was able to keep the fire contained.

Firefighters used a hose line to completely extinguish the flames while the building’s ventilation system was used to remove residual smoke from the main parts of the structure, fire officials said.

Fans were brought in from fire units to ventilate the back hallway and the storage room. Heavy fire damage was found but was contained to the storage room with no extension into other areas of the mall, fire officials said.

The building was turned back over to mall representatives and maintenance advised they would notify firefighters when the sprinkler system has been restored to the building.