Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail Battle Creek, MI – Early morning fire in shopping cart storage area at Meijer store extinguished by sprinkler system March 20, 2017 viking210 The Meijer Inc. store in Battle Creek has reopened after an evacuation and fire early Monday. Battle Creek firefighters were called to 2191 W. Columbia Ave. at 2:17 a.m. for a structure fire, according to Battalion Chief Matt Beauchamp. He said when the first firefighters arrived they found smoke in the northwest corner of the building where shopping carts were stored. “There was a decent amount of smoke,” Beauchamp said. He said a sprinkler had activated in the cart storage area and had extinguished the fire. “The sprinklers kept it in check,” Beauchamp said. Store employees, firefighters and Battle Creek police searched the building several times and evacuated everyone inside. No injuries were reported. Beauchamp said the fire appears to originated in an electric cart stored with other shopping carts. He said maintenance crews from the store were called to ensure the fire alarm and sprinkler system were functioning properly and the Calhoun County Health Department was notified because of the perishable food in the building. The health department inspected the store and determined it could be opened, firefighters said later Monday morning. Firefighters left the scene about 4 a.m. They estimated damage at $3,000.
