Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

Roanoke Fire-EMS firefighters battle a fire at Weekend Sofa Outlet in a Williamson Road strip mall on Sunday afternoon.

Fire crews battled a blaze at a Roanoke sofa store Sunday evening.

Roanoke Fire-EMS spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury said firefighters responded to a fire in the 5300 block of Williamson Road shortly after 6 p.m.

Upon arrival, crews found heavy smoke coming from the corner of the Williamson Road Plaza strip mall and discovered the fire at the Weekend Sofa Outlet store, Bradbury said.

Chief David Hoback said the fire was in the store's back storage area and that crews made a hole in the store's roof to let smoke out. Firefighters entered the back of the store through the parking lot of Happy's Flea Market and controlled the fire within a half-hour.

Nobody was injured in the blaze, Bradbury said. She also noted that none of the pets in the nearby Pet City store was injured.

The fire caused smoke damage at neighboring stores such as Caution Flag and Nature's Outlet, Hoback said.

Stacy Beck, an employee at Nature's Outlet, said she was finishing her shift when she saw a man running into different stores alerting people about the smoke. She then saw and smelled smoke.

Jay Aneja, the sofa store's manager, stood in the parking lot watching the crews work. His mother, Sneh Aneja, has owned the store for a year and a half.

The cause of the fire and the cost of the damage have not yet been determined, Bradbury said.