FIRE DESTROYS 3 SHOPS IN MALL ELECTRICAL WIRING BELIEVED TO BE AT FAULT.Byline: GIDEON RUBIN Staff Writer LANCASTER -- A massive blaze at a Lancaster strip mall strip mall n. A shopping complex containing a row of various stores, businesses, and restaurants that usually open onto a common parking lot. Noun 1. early Tuesday morning destroyed three stores. The fire, reported at 12:50 a.m., was thought to have started in the attic In the Attic can refer to:
Familia ("The Family," from the Romain familia furniture store at 859 West Ave. I. Fifty firefighters in eight engines and three ladder trucks responded, spending more than an hour dousing the flames. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County hazardous-materials crews were summoned to the scene, too. The fire could have caused significantly more structural damage to the shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into if not for firefighters making a trench cut in the attic, where the blaze is thought to have been started by electrical wiring Electrical wiring in general refers to insulated conductors used to carry electricity, and associated devices. This article describes general aspects of electrical wiring as used to provide power in buildings and structures, commonly referred to as building wiring. , Fire Department Chief Mark Bennett said. Bennett said Sheriff's and Fire departments investigators ruled out arson as the cause of the blaze. "They were absolutely incredible," property manager Stacy Emery said. "I'm just really grateful for my L.A. County fire and all my local city officials. They all really stepped up to the plate for us." Firefighters gutted the furniture store during the midday hours, hosing down the debris to ensure that it wasn't smoldering smol·der also smoul·der intr.v. smol·dered, smol·der·ing, smol·ders 1. To burn with little smoke and no flame. 2. . "They're obviously concerned about hot spots hot spots acute moist dermatitis. ," said Rod Emison, whose Har-Bro contractors was commissioned to install protective fencing around the structure. "It's very unusual to see (firefighters) pulling out all that other debris." Patrons at The Britisher, a bar a few storefronts down, were evacuated about 1 a.m. by sheriff's deputies. Bartender Karly Santacruz said when she first walked outside, all that was visible was thick black smoke. A few minutes later, she said, she heard the store's windows pop. "That's when the whole thing ignited," Santacruz said. "The fire went out the window and up really high. It looked like something you'd see in a movie." In addition to La Familia, Check Cashing and Full Body Massage were destroyed. "It's unfortunate to see the business owners lose their livelihood, but we were able to aggressively stop the fire and prevent it from getting any farther," Battalion Chief Gerald Cosey said. "It definitely could have been a lot worse." gideon.rubin@dailynews.com (661) 267-7802 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: This store in a strip mall in the 800 block of West Avenue was one of three destroyed by fire early Tuesday morning. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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