Fire breaks out at old Century III Mall

On Tuesday, a number of fire departments responded to a fire at the old Century III Mall, which has been abandoned for years.

A haze of smoke could be seen over the rundown property. No flames were visible from the outside.

Joanie Carhut, who worked at the mall when it first opened, was sitting in her car in the mall parking lot as fire departments from neighboring communities responded just before 7 am.

“This mall was really a booming mall,” she said.

The mall was ordered to close In February 2019 by West Mifflin officials, who said the property was unsafe and uninhabitable because of a broken water and fire suppression system.

The mall’s last anchor, J.C. Penney, shut down in the fall of 2020.

The mall has deteriorated ever since.

“Tear it down, that’ll be the best thing,” Carhut said.

From Chopper 11, we could see firefighters on the roof, breaking out the glass of the solarium.

An industrial fan from US Steel was brought in to help vent the building.

The Allegheny County Fire Marshal was on the scene to investigate the cause of the fire.

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