MANCHESTER, NH — Careless smoking is the suspected cause of a fire that forced the evacuation of the Mall of New Hampshire on Friday.
Manchester Fire Department received a call from Mall of New Hampshire employees at about 5:30 p.m. reporting a fire in the wall with smoke condition in the Men’s Wearhouse store, 1500 South Willow St.
Firefighters from Station 3 arrived three minutes after notification and confirmed the conditions reported in the 911 call. The mall was being evacuated by the fire alarm with the assistance of mall security.
Firefighters investigated and discovered a fire in the exterior wall and proceeded to open up the walls (interior & exterior) to extinguish the flames and to check for fire extension. Fire was quickly extinguished.
A moderate smoke condition filled the Men’s Wearhouse store and hallways adjacent to the store, including the Apple store. Firefighters remained on scene to assist with smoke removal.
Damage is estimated at about $10,000
The mall was evacuated of all patrons for approximately 45 minutes while fire crews extinguished the fire. The cause of the fire was determined to be the careless disposal of smoking materials in the bark mulch adjacent to the Men’s Wearhouse store.
