Businesses in a Norcross shopping center are recovering from varying degrees of damage after a fire erupted in a restaurant storage area on Saturday afternoon.
Gwinnett firefighters said they were called to the Indian Village Shopping Center at 2055 Beaver Ruin Road around 1:45 p.m. to reports of a business fire. The property owner told crews that a warehouse at the shopping center was on fire and directed them to a rear door where heavy fire was escaping.
They closed the door to help cut off oxygen from the flames and then went to work trying to put the fire out. Just 10 feet inside, fire crews encountered an intense blaze along with cardboard boxes "stacked from floor to ceiling" that they said contained sugar cane paper supplies for a restaurant.
The discovery forced the firefighters to change their initial plans on how they would attack the fire with the main water line coming in directly through the back with another hose at the front.
Despite the intensity of the fire and the amount of fuel the fire had in the stacked boxes, crews only found residual smoke had spread to neighboring businesses at the time.
After getting the main fire under control, the department moved to removing "massive high-pile storage" and extinguishing hot spots. No injuries were reported.
Gwinnett Fire reported that five businesses were affected in all. The storage area, which belonged to Zyka Indian Restaurant, had extensive fire, heat and water damage. The main area of the restaurant, which was not in operation, was moderately damaged.
Humos Restaurant, Bar and Lounge on the left side of Zyka's had minor damage from smoke. The same was true of Beaver Ruin Dental, Hibachi Noodle Sushi, and Chow Time Grill and Buffet which are located on the right side. No other businesses were damaged.
The general manager for Zyka's said he first arrived Saturday to retrieve supplies for other locations and turned on the breakers for the lights. He said he noticed an electrical smell and notified the property manager who continued to investigate as the restaurant manager left.
The property manager soon found smoke and fire in the building and then attempted to extinguish the flames. However, he was unsuccessful.
The smoke soon became noticeable enough that those passing by in the area noticed it and also called 911. The exact cause of the fire is still being investigated; though, a fire investigator did confirm witness statements that it started in the storage area.
The shopping center does not have automatic sprinklers, Gwinnett Fire said.
