A construction crew working at the Westfield Plaza Bonita Mall hit a gas line, which ignited a fire early Wednesday and prompted the evacuation of the mall.
The incident occurred around 2:50 a.m. when construction crews with heavy machinery working on a water line dug up a gas line, the biggest gas line that feeds into the mall, Division Fire Chief Robert Hernandez with the National City Fire Department told NBC 7.
Soon after, the gas line was ignited due to the heavy machinery near the gas line, Chief Hernandez said, adding that there was no explosion.
"The fire that is burning, this is actually a good thing for the fire department, it's consuming the gas as it continues to be released. If we did not have an ignition or a fire behind us, I think where we are standing now would not be safe," Hernandez said.
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The gas line is near the back of the mall near Nordstrom Rack and Macy's in the parking lot area. The fire posed no threat to the nearby neighborhood and the mall was evacuated as a precaution but it was taking time to secure the leak, Hernandez said.
"You think you can just kind of turn it and shut it, no there are different gas lines that are being fed from different directions," he said.
By 9:40 a.m., the fire was out. It could take SDG&E crews all day to get gas restored to businesses affected. An SDG&E spokesperson said no residents were affected by the outage.
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Cleaning crews and shop owners were in the mall at the time of the leak. The mall was closed to the public Wednesday until about 2 p.m.
"I think one of the challenges that the mall is going to have considering a gas line are going to be the eateries that we have here," Hernandez said. "They have a food court and quite a few businesses that expect that gas to be ready in the morning."
Initially, San Diego Fire-Rescue, the Chula Vista and Bonita fire departments all responded to aid.
No damage to the mall and no injuries were reported.
