No one hurt in 4-alarm fire in Dallas' Red Bird area

Shoppers were evacuated from a fire Tuesday evening at the Sack 'n Save, 2550 W. Red Bird Lane, in southwest Dallas, but no one was hurt, firefighters said.

Firefighters were on scene for about three and half hours as they battled flames and then worked to push heavy smoke out of to quell the four-alarm fire at according to a news release from Dallas Fire-Rescue.

"Fire investigators concluded that the fire originated in the produce area where paper products were stored on metal shelving," said Jason Evans, spokesman for Fire-Rescue. "However, the cause remains under investigation."

Store employees, who noticed a small fire at about 8:30 p.m. inside the store, tried to put it out themselves, but the flames grew.

"Once the fire spread out of control it set of the sprinkler system," Evans said.

Firefighters were summoned and when they arrived, they were relieved to see, "everyone, employees and shoppers, had been safely evacuated and accounted for," Evans said.

"Due to the sheer size of the structure, firefighters called for a second alarm and initiated an offensive attack to better contain the fire and make sure no one remained inside," Evans said.

Once the flames were knocked down, the incident was bumped up to a fourth alarm because more firefighters were needed "to assist in ventilation efforts," Evans said.

Thick smoke made it difficult to locate a point of origin at first, but investigators subsequently found it in the produce section, Evans said.

The investigation was continuing Wednesday morning.