A small electrical fire ignited at Sweetgreen on Saturday, prompting the newly opened eatery on the ground level floor of the University View II to close for the rest of the day, according to a fire department spokesman.
Five fire trucks responded to the blaze that occurred around 3 p.m. after the salad, wrap and yogurt parlor’s breaker panel — a box that controls electricity throughout the store — malfunctioned, said Prince George’s County Fire Department spokesman Mark Brady. The fire’s cause and the severity of the damage are unclear, but Brady said it could cost up to $500 to replace some parts in the panel.
“We do not know the cause of the electrical issue,” he said. “We just care about immediate hazards that we successfully mitigated.”
Store manager Alphonse Bah said he became aware of the fire after the breaker panel emitted a foul odor, which could be smelled outside the store.
“We just smelled it,” Bah said. “There was a little flash of light [in the breaker panel].”
Bah added that an electrician came to replace the panel when the store closed around 3:30 p.m. Saturday. They remained closed into the evening but reopened at 11 a.m. yesterday.
Some University View II residents, such as senior criminal justice major Kate Keith, said the building’s residents weren’t evacuated, despite the blaze below.
“Who knows where this fire could have gone?” she said. “They could’ve evacuated [the building] just for our safety.”
Keith said the fact that the incident came just days after Sweetgreen’s grand opening Jan. 25 seemed odd to her.
“I was thinking of going there tonight,” she said. “Maybe I’ll wait a little bit.”
foley@umdbk.com
