Grease fire at suburban Chicago mall forces closure of food court area
RIVERSIDE, Ill. (CBS) – A grease fire caused thick, black smoke to fill the air outside of the North Riverside Mall in the western suburbs on Thursday, forcing the mall's food court to close for several hours.
The fire happened around 11:15 a.m.
No one was hurt, but the fire burned a charred area visible on the outside of the mall. The smoke was so thick that people at and near the mall believed the fire was much worse than it was.
A video posted to the Citizen App showed the fire at the Smokehouse restaurant. North Riverside Mayor Joseph Mengoni said the fire spread to a neighboring restaurant.
"You never want to see that in your town, but yes, there was a lot of smoke damage," Mengoni said.
He added that everyone was evacuated from the entire mall area. Only a single food court eatery was impacted.
Crews continued working Thursday to clean up the food court.
A spokesperson said the mall common reopened on Thursday, but the food court would remain closed for health inspection and will reopen on Friday.
The North Riverside Mall houses more than 130 stores, services, and restaurants.