Store fire causes evacuation at Roosevelt Field mall

A fire inside a clothing store Saturday afternoon at the Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City prompted officials to evacuate nearby shops while the blaze was extinguished, the Westbury Fire Department said.

Kenneth Gass, first assistant fire chief of the Westbury Fire Department, said firefighters were called to the clothing shop Zara shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday because of reports of smoke in the store.

Firefighters found a fire on the first floor by an escalator, Gass said. Nearby stores were evacuated, and it took firefighters about an hour to get the fire under control.

"We did evacuate the mall in that area for probably 45 minutes to an hour," Gass said.

The cause of the fire appeared to be  electrical in nature, a failure with the equipment on the escalator,  Gass said. An estimate on monetary damage was unavailable late Saturday afternoon. No injuries were reported. 

After people were allowed back into the mall, Zara remained closed because of smoke and water damage, Gass said.

The mall is owned and managed by the Simon Property Group. No one from Simon could be reached Saturday night.