GILBERT, AZ — Several businesses were impacted after Gilbert Fire & Rescue ordered a full evacuation of a building near Gilbert and Guadalupe roads earlier this week. Fire crews said it followed months of fire code concerns and a structural assessment that identified significant safety risks.
Gilbert Fire & Rescue says concerns about the property date back to December 2025, when inspectors first identified fire code violations requiring corrections.
Over the next several months, officials say they conducted multiple follow-up inspections while working with the property owner to address those concerns. According to the fire department, most of those violations remained unaddressed.
Fire crews said after multiple inspections and repeated efforts to work with the owner to resolve those concerns, they were preparing to issue citations.
However, before those citations were finalized, Gilbert Fire and Rescue said the Town received an independent architectural assessment in late May that identified significant structural issues, including a leaning east wall and conditions posing significant safety risks.
Gilbert Fire & Rescue Chief Rob Duggan said the assessment confirmed what officials had feared.
"We read it, and it confirmed what we were concerned about, which was that there were structural instabilities with the property,” Chief Duggan said.
Following an additional inspection, officials said they determined the property posed an immediate safety risk and ordered tenants to evacuate.
"We ultimately made the decision this was an imminent threat to the public, and that's when we took the action, we did to evacuate the building," Duggan said.
The closure impacted several businesses, leaving owners and employees searching for answers.
Jodi Hall, owner of Salon Styles, is among those affected.
"It's been a little overwhelming and you know, I'm not sure what we're going to do. We're gonna have to find a new space and we're having to do that now," Hall said.
ABC15 talked to the property owner by phone. He said they are “settling the matter and the place will be open pretty soon.”
Gilbert Fire & Rescue says the next step is receiving a structural engineering report from the property owner.
"At this point, it's really on the building owner to provide us that document and that document will set the table for whatever steps are next," Duggan said.
