Workers rescued from roof of burning building under construction in La Mesa

A mid-afternoon fire Monday caused an estimated $500,000 worth of damage to a building under construction in a commercial area near Grossmont Center mall.

The non-injury blaze erupted shortly after 3 p.m. Monday in the 8800 block of Grossmont Boulevard in La Mesa, just east of Jackson Drive and south of Interstate 8, according to Heartland Fire & Rescue.

Firefighters rescued workers from the roof of the partially built structure while extinguishing the flames, which took just over an hour to complete, said Andy McKellar, spokesman for the agency.

Investigators, who set the monetary losses at about $500,000, were still working to determine the cause of the fire as of 5:30 p.m., McKellar said.