JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — Officials are still working to determine what sparked an underground fire that raged in James City County for five days. 

The storm water detention facility underneath the parking lot behind the Williamsburg Premium Outlets caught fire Saturday, Nov. 23 and was put out Thursday, Nov. 28. 

James City County Fire Marshal Joseph Davis said they were able to use equipment from a contractor to open up the areas that had the active fire and apply water to finally help put it out. 

“We were able to apply water, more specifically, to those areas that were still burning, and the result [is] a lot of destruction out there, damage out there,” Davis said.  

Tuesday morning, a 10 On Your Side crew observed several officials back out at the scene looking over the damage. 

Davis was one of a few others back out at the parking lot, along with a representative from Simon Property Group.  

Davis said they are continuing their investigation into how this happened. 

“As far as the fire cause, we still have a lot of documentation, a lot of paperwork we are still working on, and again, some other outstanding questions we have with the property owners as far as information about the system itself, so we’re just following up on that,” Davis said.  

Mel Gray, owner of Bazaaros Deli in the Williamsburg Premium Outlets, said he didn’t expect to see a massive underground fire burning right outside his backdoor for multiple days last week. 

“It was different,” he said. “Yeah, it was like a big old hole just fell out of nowhere.”

He said the fire, thankfully, didn’t impact business too much. 

“Mostly at night you’d see the fire, but it was a lot of smoke, and the smell was really strong,” Gray said. “I think a lot of people just was curious, so they came, and then, you know, it didn’t hurt us too much, other than that day or so that we were shut down.” 

Multiple agencies, including the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of Pollution Response and the Environmental Protection Agency, were on scene for the duration of the fire to monitor air and water quality. 

The fire burned for more than 100 hours, according to officials.  

Officials believe the plastic crates that make up the underground storm water system are what caught fire.