$1.4-Million Fire Hits Mini-Mall : West Hollywood: Three businesses extensively damaged and apartment house threatened. Blaze fought for more than an hour.

A three-alarm fire swept through a mini-mall in West Hollywood Friday evening, causing “extensive” damage to three businesses and threatening a two-story apartment house nearby, county fire officials said.

At least 27 county and city fire companies battled the blaze for more than an hour as flames spread through a common attic of an L-shaped shopping center in the 8300 block of West Santa Monica Boulevard. One firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation, but no one else was injured.

Damage was estimated at $1.4 million.

“It got into the attic area and spread the full length of the structure,” said County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman.

The blaze apparently started in the Hollyway Cleaners at about 7:40 p.m. and spread to Sal’s Pharmacy and the Bigg Chill Yogurt Shop.

In 1986 the cleaners was described as “a huge operation that does more over-the-counter trade each week than any other single dry cleaner in the nation,” according to dry cleaning industry surveys.

Firefighters had been concerned that the two-story apartment building behind the mini-mall would become involved, and the apartment building was temporarily evacuated.

The 10-unit apartment house, from which firefighters fought the mall blaze, suffered some smoke and water damage, but it apparently was not damaged by the flames.

Kambiz Sabar, 20, the manager of the cleaners, said about 10 customers and 30 employees were inside the store when a shirt caught fire on a “sleever” and spread to other plastic-covered shirts on a conveyor belt.

“The bags are extremely flammable,” said Charles Green, who works at the cleaners. “It went just like that. Before we knew it, it just spread.”

However fire officials did not give an official cause for the blaze. “At this point it would be too early to tell,” said Chief Freeman.

A large crowd gathered to watch firefighters battle the blaze, which was knocked down at 8:50 p.m.

Fatehazi Amersi, owner of the cleaners, placed the damage at “more than a half million dollars” in clothes alone. He said he had insurance and expects to be back in business as soon as possible.

“Hollyway is a legend in the business,” George Laumann, director of the California Fabric Care Institute once said.

According to Scott Chortkoff, whose family ran Hollyway until it was sold to new owners in 1984, the store has brought in as much as $50,000 a week from its counter operation. The Chortkoff brothers, Milton and Burton, built a dry-cleaning juggernaut, with three tailor bays complete with dressing rooms and mirrors, a film-processing counter and special machines to clean intricate leathers and dresses with beads.

On favored customers’ birthdays, the brothers gave away cakes; on Mother’s Day, women were presented with flowers. Until the early 1980s, the Chortkoffs printed “Hollywords,” a free newspaper crammed with neighborhood notes and helpful cleaning tips.”

Times staff writers Nieson Himmel and Josh Meyer contributed to this story.