(Buford, Ga., Jan. 21, 2026) – At 7:28 p.m., firefighters responded to a report of a business fire at Dillard's in the Mall of Georgia at 3333 Buford Drive in Buford. 911 callers stated there was a dumpster fire in front of the mall, and the flames were catching the building on fire.  

Firefighters arrived at 7:33 p.m. and reported a fire in a dumpster that was extending to the three-story building. Firefighters found that the fire was in the parapet wall extending from the roll-off dumpster, with moderate fire involvement on the exterior two-story wall connected to the main building. Fire crews initially deployed one hose line to combat the flames while search and evacuation teams were looking for victims inside the business. Once the building was fully evacuated, additional firefighters deployed one additional hose line that was used to extinguish the fire that extended from the building to a nearby tree and assisted with fire exposures. Once fire control was gained at 7:51 p.m., fire crews began smoke removal from the main building, referred to as Dillards. Heavy fire damage to the parapet wall was found, which is directly above the loading dock where the roll-off dumpster was located. No fire extension into the main building was found; heavy smoke remained inside Dillards until firefighters were able to deploy fans for smoke removal. Approximately 40 occupants were evacuated by firefighters and Mall of Georgia Security. No injuries were reported in this fire. Medical crews on the scene were utilized for firefighter rehabilitation.  

The Dillards employees informed firefighters that they had noticed a small fire in the dumpster, tried extinguishing the fire with two fire extinguishers, but had no success. The employees then began the evacuation of the business. By that time, the fire alarm had activated inside the building. Dillard's management and the Mall of Georgia management were on the scene assisting firefighters. Firefighters stated that the cause of this fire was accidental and originated in the dumpster.

EQUIPMENT AT THE SCENE INCLUDED: 4-Engines, 2-Ladder Trucks, 1-Squad, 1-Med Unit, 3-Command Staff Units, 1-Medical Supervisor, 1-Air and Light Unit, 1-Public Information Officer.

***For pictures of the scene go to our Facebook page @GwinnettFire.