Fire temporarily closes Sun City businesses

An electrical fire in the Plaza de Grande office building, 10147 W. Grand Ave., has closed some businesses temporarily.

“They’re hoping to have us back open in about three weeks,” said Cindy Newman, chairman of the West Valley Republican and Independent Coalition, whose offices were affected by the fire.

The fire started from wiring in the wall of the Auto Tags of America office at approximately 8:45 p.m., said Kenny Kovac, Sun City Fire District fire marshal. Firefighters from Sun City, Peoria, Glendale and El Mirage responded to the fire, which was contained within the wall.

“The fire was small, but the smoke damage was extensive due to the burning wiring,” Newman said. “The offices of the West Valley Republican and Independent Coalition are closed until further notice and we lost a lot of our personal property due to the smoke damage. Several of our events were canceled and two of them were moved to new venues. We’ve lost almost everything to smoke damage except the furniture.”

The damage also shut down the election offices for the Donald Trump presidential campaign in the West Valley area, she said. She did not know their future plans now.

“Since May, the (Republican National Committee) has had their Trump campaign office for the West Valley in our offices,” Newman said.

Offices along the north side of the building were affected, Newman said, and businesses along the south side remain open.