Tuesday fire closes 10th Street Pizza Express for at least 4 weeks

The owners of Pizza Express hope a fire that gutted the office of their 10th Street store Tuesday won't cost them too much business.\nThe Pizza Express in Crosstown Plaza, 1791 E. 10th St., will be closed for at least four weeks as workers repair fire, smoke and water damage caused by a short in a breaker box that set the rear of the store ablaze, said Sara Sheikh, the communications manager for One World Enterprises, the company that owns Pizza Express.\nThe Bloomington-based pizza chain is setting up a call center to help route many of its delivery customers through the three other stores in town, though sales at 10th Street store account for the biggest chunk of Pizza Express' business. Insurance adjusters were still calculating the cost of the damage, Sheikh said.\n"It will definitely cost us," said Dave Schwandt, the manager of One World Enterprises. \nThe Bloomington Fire Department responded to the fire at Pizza Express at about 10:35 a.m. Tuesday, said Bloomington Fire Department Chief Jeff Barlow. Fire crews extinguished the blaze in the office in about 20 minutes and were able to prevent it from spreading beyond the Pizza Express store. No one was injured.\nInvestigators ruled the fire accidental and believe it might have started at the circuit breaker, Barlow said.\nThe fire sent smoke through the ventilation systems in the other businesses in the building. Hi-Tek Hair, located next door to Pizza Express, has been closed since the fire because of smoke damage, though owner Rebecca Washel said she hopes to reopen Friday.\nJulie Behr, the salon's coordinator, said she, another employee and a customer were at work when they heard a loud bang. When she looked out the back door, the Pizza Express employees were standing outside and told her to leave the building. \nLennie's, which is in the same building as Pizza Express, closed Tuesday but reopened Wednesday, Schwandt said.\nSheikh said her company is fortunate to have three other stores in Bloomington to pick up the slack, though she said the walk-up business will suffer from the closure because of its proximity to campus.\nFor a listing of Pizza Express locations, addresses and hours, visit http://express.bloomington.com.