PHOENIX - Crews are in clean up mode after a fire tore through a Phoenix pawn shop overnight Sunday.
The pawn shop is located near 27th Avenue and Thomas Road.
The only visible damage from the fire itself is in the ceiling area as the rest of the damage was caused by smoke and water coming from the sprinkler system which firefighters say made a huge difference in containing the flames.
Fire investigators say flames started in the bathroom of the 10,00 square foot building just after 1:00 a.m. Monday morning at the Arrow Pawn and Jewelry store.
Early indications show the fire most likely from a fan that malfunctioned.
The sprinklers kicked in leaving about 2 inches of water throughout the store and most likely damaging a lot of the electronics. There were at least 50 large flat screen TVs in the store.
As for the jewelry, most of that was already in a safe and unharmed.
The owner was first on scene after the sprinklers triggered the burglar alarm, so he called firefighters.
The store was filled with smoke, so crews went atop the building and quickly put the flames out.
The store owner says he has about 5,000 customers who have stuff at the store on loan and said there's no need for them to panic about their belongings.
Arrow Pawn and Jewelry has been around since 1994 and is a family business and they've had to deal with disaster before when their store got flooded, so the owner staying calm and said, they knew what to do this time.
