New details have been released following Wednesday’s fire at Russ’s Market at 63rd and Havelock. LFR Public Information Officer MJ Lierman says people inside and on the street reported smoke coming from a framed wall of an outside cooler around 11:30.
“There was improperly discarded smoking materials that was the source of that fire, getting into that wall.,” Lierman says. There was a light odor and haze inside the store and it was evacuated as a precaution.
Lierman says damage to the cooler is estimated at $20,000 and about $1,000 in produce was lost. It’s not known who put the cigarette there.
