Smoke forces evacuations at Montgomery Mall

Tuesday, July 26, 2016
MONTGOMERY TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- Officials say a power outage led to a smoky situation and forced the evacuation of the Montgomery Mall in Montgomery Township.

It happened around 10 a.m. Tuesday at the mall located near Bethlehem and North Wales Roads.
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First responders arrived to smoke and hazy conditions.



A second alarm was struck for assistance to figure out the source of the problem.

A large presence of fire engines arrived to the scene.

The power outage caused a generator to malfunction. Once the power was back on, the generator gave off an electrical odor, and then smoke began pouring through the mall.
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And, that prompted the evacuation of employees and shoppers at the mall.



Lanette Wismer, a mall employee said, "I couldn't get my registers up and the next thing you know the power went out entirely in the whole mall. It came back on partially, and I smelled something burning. I looked around and couldn't find anything. Then I started to see smoke, so I gathered my belongings and got out and called 911."

Employees were allowed back in the mall around noon. Shoppers will be allowed back in around 12:30 p.m.

There was no damage to the mall, and no reports of injuries.
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