Kings Plaza Mall reopens after massive garage fire

<p>Kings Plaza Mall reopened Wednesday morning in the wake of a massive fire in the mall's parking garage on Monday.</p>

News 12 Staff

Sep 19, 2018, 10:47 AM

Updated 2,045 days ago

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Kings Plaza Mall reopened Wednesday morning in the wake of a massive fire in the mall's parking garage on Monday.
That fire shut down the mall for two straight days, halting business for its retailers.
The man accused of setting the fire, Evon Stephens, remains in custody. A law enforcement source says Stephens was charged in federal court Tuesday because the cars that went up in flames in the garage belonged to various car dealerships and involved interstate commerce.
Prosecutors say he admitted to starting the fire because he thought people were having sex in the parked cars. The criminal complaint says more than 135 vehicles were damaged.
The parking garage is also back open. There was no damage to the mall itself, but officials say the section in the garage where the fire happened has been sectioned off. 
The Department of Buildings told News 12 that there are no structural stability concerns with the garage, but a vacate order was issued for the part that was affected.
Many shoppers say they didn’t seem to get the message that Kings Plaza remained shut down Tuesday. They say the mall's closure put a dent in their plans.
"I got on three different buses and then I realized it was closed so I was like, 'Oh god,'" says shopper Shaun Day.
Officials say they are working on repairing the garage and removing the damaged cars. 


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