East Islip Stop & Shop closes early following small electrical fire

A fire at a Suffolk grocery store forces employees and shoppers to evacuate. News 12's Jenna Rae Gartner is outside of that Stop and Shop with the latest details. Jenna, what have you learned? Well, the Stop and Shop parking lot has been busy with would-be customers Sunday night trying to get the items that they need, but they're being turned away at the door. That's because fire officials say they were called to this Stop and Shop in East Islip for reports of a fire just after 4 p.m. They say eight departments responded and the fire was brought under control within an hour. Stop and Shop says it was a small fire with some smoke upstairs and was not near the food. Stop and Shop employees tell me it was an electrical fire and they had to evacuate the building. Thankfully, they say no one was hurt. We reached out to PSEG about the electrical fire. They say they did not have to turn off power to the store. It was an issue with Stop and Shop's internal electrical equipment and a private electrician would be the one dealing with that issue. It would be nice to know and then obviously whether or not I'm going to be able to pick up my groceries tomorrow or if there's something different because there's nothing on the website. So shocked. I have no idea what's going on. Just trying to get water for my son and that's pretty much it. He's going to go to the other Stop and Shop now. Stop and Shop says they will open Monday morning after the health department shows up to approve everything. In East Islip, Suffolk County, Jenna Rae Gartner, News 12.