Palmer Park Mall Briefly Closed After Fire Call

It’s business as usual today at the after a fire scare Monday evening.

According to Palmer Township Fire Commissioner Delmar Grube, a call was made to the fire department about a possible commercial fire at the Payless Shoe Store around 6:45pm Monday.

Once fire officials arrived, it was determined that there was no fire. An electrical issue was causing a smoky smell throughout the mall via an HVAC system. Grube said there was not enough power being supplied to the mall, causing electricity to get hot and giving off an odor.

Since fire officials could not isolate the problem, MetEd was called to investigate. However, there was a delay in response with cleanup from Hurricane Irene.

Both mall and fire officials determined the best option would be to turn the power off and evacuate the building until the source of the problem could be determined. Grube said since it was close to closing hours mall officials decided to close the mall for the evening.

Once MetEd was on hand, Grube said, it quickly found the source of the problem and restored power.

No injuries or damage was reported.