UPDATE: Tysons Corner Center mall guest services said all the stores except the restaurant have reopened Saturday morning. Seasons 52 is expected to remain closed throughout the weekend.
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A kitchen fire sparked inside the Tysons Corner Center mall on Friday evening, forcing people sitting in restaurants and watching movies to evacuate the building.
The Fairfax County mall was partially evacuated after a grease fire broke out at the restaurant Seasons 52, located on the first floor, a representative of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department said.
The three-alarm fire traveled up to the third floor through pipes and sent smoke pouring out of the building. Flames shot through the roof, images from the News4 chopper show.
Firefighters arrived about 6:05 p.m.
The mall food court, the AMC Tysons Corner 16 theater and the area near Seasons 52 were evacuated, the fire department said.
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As the weekend began, the smoke seeped into movie theaters and restaurants.
"It was just starting the previews, and as the previews were playing, the show actually started to fill up with smoke, and all the lights started to actually start flashing ,and the emergency alarms just start going off," moviegoer Phillip Jones said.
"Right in the middle of happy hour. Yes, I know everybody had to stop drinking their martinis," said Erick Henderson, the head chef at Brio Tuscan Grill.
Other parts of the mall remained open.
No injuries were reported.
Seasons 52 and nearby restaurants and retailers will be closed until further notice, Tysons Corner said in a tweet.
A representative for mall security initially told News4 the entire mall was being evacuated. A representative for the management of the mall then said only a portion of the mall would be cleared of shoppers, diners and moviegoers.
