Accidental electrical fire engulfs bagel shop

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Bruegger’s Bagels, 505 E. Grand River Ave., was damaged Friday when an accidental electrical fire erupted after the restaurant closed for the evening.

No one was in the restaurant at the time of the fire and no one was hurt, East Lansing fire marshal Bob Pratt said.

Workers at In Flight Sports, 507 E. Grand River Ave., called the East Lansing Fire Department at 7:08 p.m. Friday to report a chemical smell coming from the building.

After a single East Lansing fire truck responded to the report of the chemical smell and found the building on fire, several additional fire engines from East Lansing and Meridian Township were called to the scene.

Pratt said fire officials have not pinpointed exactly what caused the electrical fire, but they believe it might have been lighting. He said the chemical smell was probably from fumes of burning plastics in the building.

“We’ll have the building department go through (today) and see whether there are any issues with the building,” Pratt said. “It’s likely to be some time before they’re reopened.”

Pratt said the inspection will assess whether the building received any structural damage. He said there doesn’t appear to be any.

Bill Drake, the manager of Bruegger’s Bagels, said the restaurant will be closed until further notice. Drake said no decisions about what to do next will be made until after inspectors visit the building today.

The fire was contained in the bakery area where baked bagels are stored, but there is extensive smoke and heat damage throughout the building, Pratt said.

The second floor of the Bruegger’s Bagels building houses U.S. Marine Corp offices. Pratt said while some smoke did travel to the second floor, he doesn’t believe the offices were damaged during the fire.

“I think once we ventilated it, that was not a big issue,” he said.

U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. A.J. Pompos was working in the offices Friday evening and smelled smoke, but assumed it was incense coming from another store.

“It started smelling smoky but I stayed in the office about 20 minutes longer,” Pompos said.

“I didn’t think nothing of it until the cops came because In Flight burns their incense all the time.”

Kay Jennings, the owner of the building that houses Bruegger’s, was out of town and couldn’t be reached for comment.

Staff writer Liz Kersjes contributed to this report.

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