TOPEKA — Authorities are working to determine the cause of Tuesday fire at the nearly abandoned shopping mall in south Topeka known as the White Lakes Mall.
Just after 6:30a.m., crews responded in freezing rain to the fire and found smoke coming from the roof of the building, according to Fire Marshall Todd Harrison.
Due to the condemned status of the building, firefighters focused efforts on keeping the fire contained and from spreading to Mainline Printing, the one business that remains in the building.
A primary search of the structure revealed no occupants. Mainline printing sustained minimal damage, according to Harrison.
The Estimated dollar loss – $100,000.00; all of which is associated with structural loss. Working smoke detectors were not located within the structure of fire origin.
----------
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Firefighters have worked in freezing rain to battle a fire that appeared to do significant damage to a nearly abandoned shopping mall in south Topeka.
Local news reports said firefighters were called to the White Lakes Mall at about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. Multiple crews fought the blaze and appeared to have it mostly under control after about an hour.
The mall property includes one remaining business, a printing company that apparently didn’t sustain damage. The mall opened in 1964, but its popularity waned when a new mall opened in west Topeka in 1988.