North Riverside Park Mall reopens following ‘minor fire’ in food court: officials
A “minor fire incident” temporarily closed the North Riverside Park Mall Thursday, according to authorities.
The fire started around 11 a.m. inside one of the restaurants in the west suburban mall’s food court, said Lt. David Rajk with the North Riverside Fire Department. Firefighters took about two hours to extinguish the blaze, Rajk said.
No one was injured, Rajk said, but patrons inside the food court were evacuated from the building.
The food court will remain closed until Friday pending a health inspection, but the rest of the mall reopened Thursday afternoon after smoke was cleared from the building, according to a statement from the Feil Organization, which owns and manages the mall. Only one food court eatery was affected.
Videos posted on social media showed thick clouds of black smoke coming out of the building. The cause of the fire was under investigation, Rajk said.
A statement posted to the village’s Facebook page Thursday afternoon said the “situation is contained” inside the mall.
“For safety reasons, we kindly ask everyone to refrain from visiting the area while emergency services conduct their investigation,” the statement said.
