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# Smoke from faulty air conditioner empties Z Gallery on Third Street Promenade
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/111602-story/
- Published: 2002-11-16T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:56:21.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Crime, Promenade, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

At about 9:30 a.m. Friday, employees at Z Gallery on the Third Street Promenade called the Santa Monica Fire Department when the store filled with smoke.

Fire officials responded almost immediately with fire engines and hoses, but fortunately there was no fire. The smoke was caused by a faulty air-conditioning unit. There were no damages, and nobody was injured.

The store was able to re-open by 11 a.m.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/111602-03_01.jpg)

Z Gallery manager Tai Pettaway tells fire engineer Gary Marshall what her employees saw before her store filled with smoke Friday. (Photo: Ross Furukawa/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 16, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111602.pdf?ref=smdp.com)