Shoppers fled Gwinnett Place Mall on Thursday afternoon after a fire broke out at a shoe repair shop, causing smoke to pour out into the mall’s open spaces.

Gwinnett County fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said firefighters were called to the mall at 4:54 p.m. because of a fire at the Heel Quick shop. They arrived to find the sprinkler system had gone off, but a moderate amount of smoke was still present in the second floor atrium area between Sears and Mega Mart, where the shoe repair shop was located.

Rutledge said the fire started in an area of the shop where a shoe repair machine was located. “The fire was pretty much being controlled by the sprinkler system,” Rutledge said. “The sprinkler fire suppression system pretty much did its job and kept the fire from spreading. There is extensive water damage in that immediate area and seeping down to the first floor.”

The major fire damage was confined to the area where the machine was located in the Heel Quick shop, and fire investigators were looking into what the exact cause of the fire was. Rutledge said a store employee was using the machine when the fire began, but the employee was able to get away without being injured.

“It appears to have originated in that piece of machinery,” Rutledge said.

He also said no shoppers or employees of other stores in the mall reported any injuries to fire or police officials.

The fire department spokesman added that the sprinkler system’s containment of the fire made it easier for firefighters to get into the store and put the flames out.

“They were able to put the fire completely out with only two water cans off the (fire truck) apparatus,” Rutledge said. “In other words, they didn’t have to pull hose lines into the building.”

The mall was initially evacuated only between Sears and the Mega Mart, but Rutledge said the amount of smoke coming from the store caused them to quickly evacuate the rest of the mall as well.