Staff members, patrons remember destroyed North Phoenix Safeway

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - A day after a massive fire destroyed a Safeway in North Phoenix, firefighters are still at the scene to put out hotspots and investigate what happened.

According to Phoenix Fire Captain Rob McDade, the fire happened near the area of 35th Avenue and Northern, and firefighters were called out just before 6:00 p.m. for a reported fire in the supermarket's backroom. That fire eventually consumed the entire supermarket.

SkyFOX was over the supermarket as the storefront collapsed Wednesday evening.

More than 75 firefighters battled the three-alarm blaze, and as of Thursday, it is believed that the roof of the store collapsed under the rain, which damaged the store's main electrical box and broke a gas line.

No one was hurt from the fire.

Shoppers say the Safeway was the place to shop for groceries in the area.

"We're here everyday," said Eric Curran. He says he used to work to the Safeway with his daughter for daily groceries. "We know all the ladies by first name, and it tragic. Just glad everybody got out OK."

"I feel bad because this was a big store," said Leyla Forest. "This had a Starbucks, a bank, a lot of stuff. All these people, these jobs."

Forest said she stopped by because her son wanted to see what he saw on the news, in person.

"I just wanted to see what it looks like after the fire, and just see if anything was actually left, but no," said Leyla's son, Cameron.

Safeway Spokesperson Nancy Keane said all employees will be relocated to other locations.

"At this point, we did talk to them about pay this morning, to ensure they are going to be covered at least through the next week, until they are placed in another location," said Keane.

As for shoppers with prescriptions, they can fill them at any Safeway or Albertsons. Most of the shoppers say they plan to shop at the Fry's that is located is about a mile away, in Glendale.