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by BRIAN BOYD
A fire that apparently began in an elevator control room forced the closure of several stores, including Macy's, at the Queens Center mall yesterday.
No injuries were reported, but the mall was evacuated for up to three hours and some stores remained closed last night.
The fire started at about 12:20 p.m., Fire Department spokesman Kevin Nolan said. The cause remained unknown late yesterday.
"The lights were flickering, and there was a power surge," said Rodney Guillaume, 25, of Flatbush, who is a sales manager for Electronics Boutique in the mall.
After the fire alarm went off, an announcement over the public address system first reported it was a false alarm, but then told people to evacuate, Guillaume said.
The evacuation mostly involved employees because few shoppers were in the mall only a couple of hours after it opened, he said.
Juan Pineda, 22, of Bushwick, who was being trained on his first day at Macy's, said people filed out of the mall at a steady pace and did not panic.
"We just heard the alarm, and we left," Pineda said. "Everything was calm and smooth."
A crowd of mall employees gathered by Queens Boulevard and waited up to three hours to reenter. By 4 p.m., the east side of the mall was open for business.
Firefighters had the blaze under control by about 2 p.m., Nolan said.
Con Edison crews were on hand to shut off power, spokesman Joe Petta said.
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