Photo courtesy of Guynnie
Photo courtesy of Guynnie
Photo courtesy Sheree Fischer
Photo courtesy George Lowry
CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA - About 80 firefighters battled a 3-alarm fire at a Tuesday Morning store, which started a little after 4 p.m. Monday.
The building was engulfed in flames with a huge plume of smoke when crews arrived at the store on 6302 Sunrise Boulevard at about 4:20 Monday, Sacramento Metro Fire Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum said.
"The guys on the roof, they had a scare," Cockrum said. "A lot of the roof started coming in pretty quick. They were able to get off safely."
The roof of the building soon collapsed, but fire walls protected other stores in the nearby strip mall from the flames. Firefighters went into a defensive fight, using powerful streams of water from snorkels to keep the flames in check.
PHOTOS: Viewer photos of fire
One bystander saw the roof collapse.
"They had run out of water right then, so the fire just came up really bad and as soon as they started going over it again (with water) the roof collapsed in. And it was just huge," eyewitness Krystal Gollaher said.
Motorists were advised to avoid the intersection of Greenback Lane and Sunrise Boulevard, Citrus Heights Police Department spokesman Jon Kempf said.
Kempf said northbound Sunrise Boulevard from Greenback Lane was closed. All of Arcadia Drive was also closed between Greenback Lane and Sunrise Boulevard.
The store is next to a RiteAid drugstore and behind a Sprouts market under construction.
Cockrum put the preliminary damage estimate to the approximately 10,000 square-foot building at at least $2 million.
Cockrum said the building, which is several decades old, did not have fire sprinklers installed. He said it was not yet clear whether that put the owner in violation of fire codes.
"And of course, the insurance company will be the first to want to know whether or not they did something illegal," Cockrum said.
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