A tracer round accidentally fired by a customer at the Sandy Springs Gun Club and Range likely started the fire Sunday that damaged the building, officials said.

Employees, customers and the owners were able to get out of the store quickly and no one was hurt in the fire that caused moderate damage to the Roswell Road store.

Sandy Springs Fire Rescue inspector-investigator Jesse Bernard told Channel 2 Action News a customer accidentally fired a military-style tracer round — that had a small pyrotechnic charge — inside the range.

“It’s actually against regulations,” Bernard said. “The gentleman that fired it didn’t realize it was within his magazine and he notified them as soon as he realized he had fired it.”

Sandy Springs police use the range for pistol and shotgun training, but they had no firearms sessions scheduled for the near future, city spokeswoman Sharon Kraun said.

“However, we are holding off promoting our next citizens gun safety class, which was scheduled for early January,” Kraun said. “We’ll know more in the next week or so.”

Channel 2 reported that the owners hope to open for business again soon.

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