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A fire broke out at the Peru Mall, which is located in Peru, Illinois, believed to have been caused by a broken light fixture. According to reports, the mall is believed to have been evacuated with police and firefighters both at the scene. During early reports of the story, it was unconfirmed if there had been any injuries or deaths related to the incident.
What happened?
According to WBZG on Twitter, the building had been evacuated as police and firefighters were coming on to the scene:
“#BREAKING Police and fire activity at Peru Mall – the building has been apparently evacuated #WBZG”
On Twitter, Brent Bader, a news reporter for The Times newspaper in Ottawa and Streator, Illinois, also gave the following updates:
“Fire trucks are on scene at Peru Mall for a light fixture on fire. Scanner traffic says the fire is out, smoke present. Mall has been evacuated.”
“Fire department is rolling up hoses outside the mall.”
“It would appear a door was broken to get hoses into the building. Firetrucks are preparing to leave.”
What are officials saying?
According to My Web Times, Peru Deputy Fire Chief Jim Duncan confirmed that dry chemicals from fire extinguishers made smoke in the area seem much more threatening than it had actually been; he also confirmed that mall officials were able to quickly contain the fire with the use of extinguishers. Duncan also issued the following statements:
“There really wasn’t much of a fire.”
“It wasn’t a huge fire, but we didn’t know that until we were on scene.”
While final damages are unknown at this time, with early estimates saying the fixture that cause the fire needing to be fixed, mall operations are expected to resume later this Sunday.
Peru Mall Fire Photos & Videos
As this story is developing, more information will be updated as made available.