By Peter Dujardin, Hannah Eason
The Virginian-Pilot
JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. — A section of the Williamsburg Premium Outlets was shut down Saturday when an underground fire caused a rear parking lot to collapse in at least two places.
David Tuftee, the owner of Uncle Dave’s Kettle Korn, first noticed smoke billowing from the collapsed area and called the James City County Fire Department.
Firefighters began arriving just before 9 a.m.
Responders discovered an active fire in the stormwater draining system, and found the asphalt parking lot behind the stores partially collapsed.
The smoke was coming from the surface about 100 yards behind Bazaaros Deli, with another collapse about 40 yards behind that building.
Out of caution and because of the smoke, firefighters cleared about 36 stores in that section of the Premium Outlets, a popular shopping destination off Richmond Road. That’s the section with the Yankee Candle, the Levi’s Outlet and the Gap Factory.
According to the mall’s website, all shops — including the section that was closed Saturday — were open Sunday. A call to Gap Factory confirmed that business was open.
Firefighters from James City County, York County, the James City-Bruton Fire Department and others responded, with several trucks still on hand as of 5 p.m. Saturday.
James City County Fire Chief Ryan Ashe said firefighters spent much of the day Saturday trying to determine the cause of the sinkholes and smoke.
“It’s a new one for us for sure,” he said.
After spending much of the day investigating the source of the blaze, “we found out it was related to the stormwater management system that’s underground,” Ashe said.
He said firefighters determined the fire originated in the drainage system — in a series of plastic crates that are stacked in blocks to form a holding tank beneath the gravel and asphalt parking lot.
“That allows for temporary stormwater storage until it can drain off,” Ashe explained. “But something has caused a fire that has the plastic material in there burning.”
But firefighters are still trying to determine what sparked the blaze.
“We have no leads at this point on what may have been the cause,” he said. But he added the fire had been contained.
“We’ve been able to put some water in the stormwater pipes,” Ashe said. “We’re able to throw some water on the surface and allow it to seep through the porous asphalt that’s here.”
Officers from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the York County Fire Department’s hazmat team also were on hand.
“We’ve done monitoring and determined that it’s no hazard for the housing area behind (the shopping mall) or for the businesses to open,” Ashe said.
Officials with the Simon Property Group, the company that owns and operates the outdoor shopping mall, declined to comment at the scene on Saturday.
Ashe said firefighters would be monitoring the issue for the next several days until Simon Property determines how to fix the parking lot and drainage system.
The outlet at 5715 Richmond Road has more than 120 stores, including Ann Taylor, Calvin Klein and Banana Republic. Aside from the closed-off area, the rest of the shopping mall remained packed Saturday.
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