Rancho Bernardo Shopping Center Fire Causes $500K Damage

Updated 12:25 a.m. Wednesday.

An electrical fire broke out in a Rancho Bernardo shopping center shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, causing an estimated $500,000 in damage and injuring one firefighter, officials said.

Fire crews responded to calls of smoke in the area of Paseo Lucido and Alta Carmel Court and found the roof of an empty business—the former Grazianos Pizzeria—in the Rancho Carmel Village Center on fire, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Chief Rick Ballard said. The call came in at 10:09 p.m. and the first engine arrived at 10:14 p.m., he said.

The fire was concentrated on the exterior portion of the rear roof and the roof of the upper attic, Ballard said. The fire was out within 10 minutes, Ballard said.

No one was inside the building at the time of the fire, he said. One firefighter suffered a back injury while working on the roof, Ballard said.

Investigators arrived on scene just after 11 p.m. and said they believe the fire was caused by a glitch in a neon light transformer in a sign from the former business left in the building. Structural damage, primarily to the roof, is estimated to be at $500,000, investigators said.

Nine units responded, including engines from Poway and Rancho Santa Fe. The final crews were preparing to leave the scene around midnight.

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