Palmer Park Mall evacuated after power outages, odor

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

The Palmer Park Mall was evacuated tonight and shut down because of an odor after partial power outages in the building, officials said.

Hundreds of customers and employees were forced to leave the 2455 Park Avenue mall about 6:20 after visitors reported what smelled like a fire near the Payless ShoeSource and Fiat stores near The Bon-Ton entrance.

There was no fire, and officials think the odor was caused by the mall's heating-ventilation-and-air-conditioning system not receiving enough electricity due to power outages in certain parts of the mall, said Palmer Township fire Commissioner Delmar Grube.

"In our estimation, the HVAC unit was not getting enough power for normal speed, and the resulting overheating caused the odor," Grube said. "The HVAC system then pulled the odor into the mall."

As a precaution, power to the entire mall was shut down, Grube said. Pam Richetta, the mall's interim general manager, said the managers were told to shut down their stores and close up for the night.

"We do not believe there is any emergency issue, but we'd rather be safe than sorry," Richetta said. "Everything will be resolved more efficiently this evening without the stress of a lot of people walking around."

Metropolitan Edison was called about the incident but could not respond immediately because crews were on "storm mode" due to the power outages caused by Hurricane Irene this weekend, Grube said.

Dozens of store employees milled around the parking lot and outside of the mall entrance before they were told to go home. Grube said the parking lot was originally completely full but cleared out after customers left the mall.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2011/08/palmer_park_mall_evacuated_aft.html