PHOENIX — More than 60 firefighters battled a third-alarm fire at a strip mall in Phoenix overnight.
The fire in the strip mall near 35th Avenue and Van Buren Street started around 4 a.m.
It was contained shortly before 7 a.m., the Phoenix Fire Department said.
The department called in three alarms after the fire started to spread to more of the strip mall.
The fire ended up burning a discount store and involved several other businesses throughout the strip mall, the department added.
No one was injured.
"Smoke coming out and fire,” said business owner Moises Tamayo, describing what he saw when the fire ignited Sunday morning. "It's pretty bad, because we have a store here ourselves."
"Hopefully we didn't get any damage, but it looks like the discount center is the one that got hit pretty bad,” he added.
"Crews quickly deployed attack lines and tried to make an interior attack," said Captain Kenny Overton of the Phoenix Fire Department.
But due to the amount of smoke and fire, he says they pulled out and this became a defensive fire fight.
"Crews were able to contain the fire to the area of origin and also make sure that nobody was hurt in the process," said Overton.
Tactics have evolved since Phoenix Fire tragically lost veteran firefighter Bret Tarver while fighting a fire at Southwest Supermarket in 2001.
He was trapped by debris in the back of the supermarket and became disoriented.
"In the fire service, we learn from our successes and we also learn from our tragedies," said Overton. "This was fire engine 14's first due area... this is where Bret worked."
Overton says they’ve learned lessons from that tragedy when it comes to keeping their crews safe and they’ve implemented those practices, especially on large scale fires like this one.
"Crew accountability, the way that we monitor our personnel, the way that we operate on the fire ground," he said.
On this scene, thankfully no one was injured and looking ahead, business owners are hoping for the best.
"Luckily, hopefully I think we'll be okay," said Tamayo.
Crews were expected to stay on the scene for the next several hours to make sure all hot spots were extinguished.
The department worked with local agencies to determine whether the other businesses could open on Sunday.
The entire strip mall was shut down while crews were on scene. There were also traffic restrictions in the area.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
