Phoenix Fire Dept.

Phoenix firefighters battle a blaze at a commercial strip mall near 35th Avenue and Van Buren Street

Over 60 firefighters Sunday morning battled a blaze at a commercial strip mall near 35th Avenue and Van Buren Street.

Phoenix Fire Captain Danny Gile said the blaze burned a discount store.

"That discount store was a total loss, but fortunately the other businesses were saved," Gile said. "Because of the construction features and layout of the building, there was some smoke damage into those other buildings.”

Gile said crews learned from eerily similar circumstances in a 2001 fire at a supermarket near Sunday morning’s blaze. Firefighter Bret Tarver was killed in that 2001 incident.

The cause of Sunday's blaze is still under investigation.