Fire at Macy’s in Fresno’s Fashion Fair mall prompt evacuation, battalion chief says
A fire was allegedly lit Saturday evening in the Macy’s men’s bathroom at Fashion Fair in Fresno.
The Fresno Fire Department responded to the fire at 6:11 p.m. Crews went into the bathroom and were met with heavy black smoke coming out in the basement floor at Macy’s, Battalion Chief Brian Downs said.
Crews were able to evacuate Macy’s and contained the fire to just the bathroom. Downs said there were some toilet paper dispensers that have been lit on fire and extinguished in one of the stalls.
“We’ve just been working on trying to eliminate the smoke out of the building,” Downs said. “We were able to isolate the fire to the bathroom.”
Crews opened doors and used fans to get the smoke out of Macy’s.
Macy’s was evacuated for 30 minutes before employees and customers were allowed to go back in.
Downs said none of the fire sprinklers were activated, but the fire alarm was.
“Our investigator right now is investigating to find out what the cause is and there’s also some surveillance footage around the area that he’ll be reviewing to see what information we can about how or who started the fire.
“This is just a good reminder that when the fire alarm goes off, even though many times it’s not an emergency, it always has the potential and we’re glad that people evacuated.”
He said he doesn’t remember any recent fire events at the Fashion Fair.
Fire crews have responded to alarm activation due to the size and age of Fashion Fair.
This story was originally published March 22, 2025 at 7:37 PM.
