FOOD businesses in Stockland Bathurst were left counting the cost following the forced closure of the centre for almost three hours yesterday morning.
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Big W staff made an emergency triple-0 call when they found a strong smell of gas in the store after arriving at work.
It prompted an immediate evacuation of these staff, and then the rest of the centre, when fire crews arrived at 8.20am.
Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Inspector Brett Jackson said around 100 staff and customers were evacuated from the centre as a precaution.
“Our guys went in there with their breathing apparatus on,” he said.
“They checked the area thoroughly with their gas detectors and nothing was shown.”
Following the search, crews determined that the gas may have come from a source outside the centre.
“They think the air-conditioner might have dragged some gas into the shop,” Inspector Jackson said.
But the damage had been done: food retailer Subway was forced to dispose of around 80 bread rolls that were in the oven when the evacuation order was given.
“It put us behind a fair bit this morning,” Subway store supervisor Jonathan Barry said.
“It would have had an impact on sales today, so we would have lost about half our sales.”
While the store was able to bake more bread when the centre reopened at 11am, he said the busy lunch rush meant the store was unable to catch up for a number of hours.
Muffin Break staff faced the same problem due to the evacuation.
Franchisee Natasha Gold said the store suffered a significant loss of trade.
“The morning and lunch is our busiest time,” she said.
The cafe also bakes its products on site, but she said that everything had been baked before the evacuation.
“Luckily there was nothing in the oven; we’d just taken out some cakes,” Ms Gold said.