May 15, 2008

Blaze destroys San Mateo hair salon

None hurt; cause of fire still unknown

By Mark Abramson / Daily News Staff Writer

A two-alarm fire ripped through a San Mateo hair salon Wednesday, causing part of the roof to collapse.

The fire at the Bovet Square Shopping Center on the corner of El Camino Real and Bovet Road was reported at about 10 a.m., and it was upgraded from a first alarm to a second-alarm blaze about 15 minutes later, San Mateo Fire Chief Dan Belville said.

The fire started in the Borel Hair Care salon and was confined to that business, Belville said. Nobody was injured, and the cause of the fire has not been determined.

The blaze caused an estimated $75,000 to $100,000 in damage, San Mateo Fire Marshal Mike Leong said.

An army of firefighters from several fire departments responded with eight fire engines, two trucks and two battalion chiefs as well as Belville.

By the time firefighters arrived, employees and customers in the nearby businesses had already evacuated. Fire department officials closed off a large area of the parking lot, and police blocked off most of the entrances to the shopping center as a precaution and to give firefighters some room to work, Belville said.

Part of the Borel Hair Care salon's roof collapsed from the weight of the water from the sprinkler system, he said.

"We didn't quite know what we had," Belville said. "It didn't impact the other units (other than some minor damage)."

Nobody reported seeing any flames, but witnesses said there was plenty of smoke billowing out of the salon.

"We just smelled it," said Sharon Park, who works at Borel Cleaners next to the salon. "Everybody ran out."

Three people who worked at the hair salon and four customers were inside when they noticed smoke coming from the ceiling vent, said Michele Updyke, one of the business's three owners. The business was remodeled about three years ago, and electrical work was done at the time, she added.



E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.