A chain link fence surrounds the Tuesday Morning store in Citrus Heights this morning as investigators prepare to enter the gutted building where a fire raged on Monday afternoon.

A cause for the fire has not been determined, Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said today.

Several hours after fire erupted – sending up a huge plume of black smoke that could be seen across the region – firefighters poured thousands of gallons of water on the store's smoldering remains.

At one point late Monday afternoon, the dramatic orange flames and billowing smoke attracted dozens of spectators to the busy Citrus Heights shopping area north of Sunrise Mall during the evening commute.

The fire – near Sunrise Boulevard and Greenback Lane – started about 4:15 p.m., when two clerks and six customers were in the outlet store, fire officials said. All managed to get out and were unharmed, they said.

More than 80 firefighters and 15 firetrucks and engines were called in to battle the three-alarm blaze, Cockrum said.

Firefighters poured 6,000 gallons of water per minute onto the flames from hoses on ladders extended above the rooftop to finally douse it.

The Tuesday Morning store and the neighboring Hoss Lee Academy, a salon and cosmetology school, were fully engulfed, Cockrum said. A good fire wall, he said, prevented the fire from spreading to the adjoining Rite Aid store.

Earlier, firefighters were on the roof of the Tuesday Morning store as it began to collapse but quickly climbed down. No injuries were reported.

As the flames subsided, water flowed across the parking lot. Layers of the collapsed roof and contents of the store continued to smolder, sending up a cloud of smoke and steam.

Although some firefighters and engines were released shortly before 7 p.m., Cockrum said other firefighters and investigators would continue working into the night.

The three businesses are in a building on the northwest side of the Sunrise Festival shopping center. Several buildings in the portion of the center that fronts on Greenback Lane are vacant and undergoing remodeling, including one scheduled to house Sprouts Farmers Market.

"This is a tremendous economic loss," Cockrum said, of the fire damage. In addition to the property loss, he noted, it affects employees of the two businesses, as well as students at the Hoss Lee Academy, several of whom arrived for classes Monday night only to be turned away by police and firefighters.

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