Firefighters Extinguish Grease Fire at New Mall

Less than an hour after the newly-reopened Pacific View mall in Ventura closed its doors on the biggest shopping weekend of the year, a grease fire ignited in the center’s food court Sunday night, sending a plume of smoke into the sky.

No one was injured in the blaze that started about 7:40 p.m. in the Sbarro Italian restaurant on the mall’s second floor, a fire official said.

The fire apparently flared up in one of the restaurant’s new ovens, said Battalion Chief Neil Gedney. The blaze was so hot, it reignited every time employees doused it with a dry chemical fire extinguisher--which is effective on grease fires, he said. The employees then called 911.

The mall was closed at the time and officials evacuated only the area around the food court, Gedney said.

Fire officials were still assessing the damage Sunday night. No other businesses were affected, Gedney said. Before the fire was extinguished, firefighters reported seeing smoke in the air a block from the mall.

Three Ventura Fire Department engine companies, including 14 firefighters, responded to the blaze.

The $100-million, 1.1 million-square-foot Pacific View mall opened Nov. 15.

“We don’t want to do this,” Gedney said while crews attended to the fire. “It’s a brand new mall.”