Category Archives: Department Store

Department Store, Retail

Cedar Park, TX – Arson fire at Walmart suppressed by automatic sprinkler system

“Lots of black smoke just radiating from that area,” described Jackie Sinclair, who was inside Walmart early Wednesday morning as flames shot up to the ceiling. The fire happened at the store on 201 Walton Way in Cedar Park around 1:44 a.m. Sinclair posted video to Facebook of the flames, which appear to be in an aisle behind the watches and jewelry section. Cedar Park Fire Department says two separate fires were set inside, one near the apparel and another in the vacuum aisle. Police are investigating it as arson.

“How did this happen?” Sinclair says on the video. “Time to go — that’s a little too big for my taste.” Sinclair said she had just gotten off work and was stopping by Walmart to get some groceries and avoid the crowds. “That’s crazy, like I’ve never seen nothing like that before, so I didn’t really understand what was going on.”

Police do have a suspect who has been interviewed, but not arrested. Investigators say it is not a Walmart employee. “It is unusual, of course, I don’t know a lot of details of the motive right now,” explains Randle Blesing, fire marshal for the Cedar Park Fire Department. Blesing says three sprinkler heads went off, putting out most of the flames. Walmart employees evacuated the store. “Thirty seconds in, I was like in, I shot the video and I was out, I did not want to stay in there,” recalls Sinclair.

No one was hurt. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. The store will remain closed until further notice so staff can assess the damage. Walmart says employees at the Cedar Park store are being reassigned to nearby stores so they can still work and won’t lose any hours.

People have set fires in other Walmart stores before. A quick Google search turns up more than a dozen in the past few years. The damage can be expensive. Two years ago, fires in a West Virginia Walmart caused more than $2 million in losses. Police arrested and charged two 12-year-old boys for starting those fires.

Last year, a man lit a fireworks display on fire inside a Walmart in Phoenix. No one was hurt, but the store sustained several million dollars worth of water and fire damage. Police arrested a suspect a few months later and charged him with arson.

Department Store, Retail

Fargo, ND – Overnight fire at Macy’s department store extinguished by sprinkler system

A sprinkler system is credited with minimizing what most likely would have been significant fire damage at Macy’s in West Acres. Fargo firefighters responded to an alarm at 2:42 a.m. Sunday and discovered a sprinkler head had activated and put out a fire in an office at the department store. The fire was determined to have started due to an overheated electrical device. The fire spread to office furniture before being extinguished by the sprinkler system. A damage assessment was not available

Department Store, Retail

Billings, MT – Fire in Home Depot confined to garden center with help from sprinkler system

A small fire broke out at Home Depot Sunday night, causing an estimated $50,000 to the store’s outdoor garden center, according to Billings fire officials.  The fire was reported at 11:36 p.m., according to a Monday press release from Deputy Fire Marshal Jeff McCullough.  It was confined to a three-level rack containing some outdoor products, according to Billings Fire Department Battalion Chief Dave Gilbert.

No one was injured in the fire, which apparently started after the store closed Sunday.  The store’s sprinkler system activated and helped confine the fire, which took firefighters about 15 minutes to fully extinguish, Gilbert said.  The cause of the fire remains under investigation.  No one was injured in the fire, which apparently started after the store closed Sunday.  The store’s sprinkler system activated and helped confine the fire, which took firefighters about 15 minutes to fully extinguish, Gilbert said.  The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Department Store, Retail

St. George, UT – Fire in break room at TJ Maxx store extinguished by sprinkler system

Firefighters rolled out to a structure fire Sunday morning at a retail store that was extinguished by the time they arrived, thanks to an internal sprinkler system. “Sprinklers for us are life savers and building savers both,” St. George Fire Battalion Chief Darren Imlay said.  Firefighters responded to a fire alarm at TJ Maxx, 42 S. River Road, around 6:20 a.m., Imlay said.

When they arrived on scene the firefighters saw some light white smoke inside the building. Lights and alarms attached to a fire alarm were going off at the time and water was on the floor, signifying the sprinklers had gone off. The sprinklers had extinguished the fire before they arrived, Imlay said, leaving it to firefighters to reset the sprinkler system and alarm, as well as air out the building.

The fire had started in an employee break room by a large vending machine. While sprinklers and alarms going off in commercial buildings is nothing new (sprinkler systems for fire suppression are required by standards set by the National Fire Protection Association), Imlay was nonetheless glad they were in play in this instance.

“For us, that could have been a big, big fire,” he said, “but because it was a sprinklered building … the sprinklers activated and kept the building from burning down. Plus the alarm activated and we were notified through the alarm company, so we had a quick response there.” Though sprinklers systems for fire suppression may not be as common in residential units as they are in commercial ones, residents can still invest in smoke detectors (which can be acquired for free in some instances) and alarm systems that can alert police, fire and medical personnel to a potential emergency.

The building was unoccupied at the time of the fire. A call into TJ Maxx’s St. George location Tuesday was answered by a recorded message stating the St. George store is currently closed for renovations and will have a grand reopening soon. This report is based on preliminary information provided by emergency responders who were at the scene and may not contain the full scope of findings.

Department Store, Retail

Northridge, CA – Trash compactor fire at Kohl’s store limited with help from sprinkler system

Los Angeles firefighters doused a dumpster fire on Saturday morning that broke out behind a Kohl’s store in Northridge. The blaze began at 8:18 a.m. at a combination compactor-dumpster that spanned the outside and inside of the Kohl’s store at 8800 Corbin Ave., said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. It took 34 firefighters 21 minutes to snuff it out.  A fire sprinkler system helped lesson the damage to store equipment and its loading dock, Humphrey said.  There were no injuries. The cause of the fire and damages were under investigation.

Department Store, Retail

Idaho Falls, ID – Arson fire at retail center extinguished with help from sprinkler system

A suspect has been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection to a fire that occurred behind Brady’s at 1445 E. Lincoln Road around 3:45 p.m. on Monday in Idaho Falls.  Jason Schlegel was arrested Monday evening in the 400 block of Lomax Street. The Idaho Falls Police Department had earlier sought the public’s assistance in locating Schlegel.

The Idaho Falls Police Department and the Idaho Falls Fire Department believe the fire that destroyed two trucks near Brady’s was due to arson.  The interior of Brady’s on Lincoln Road did not sustain any damage during the large fire near the building, according to Idaho Falls Fire Department Chief Dave Hanneman.

Two trucks were reported on fire around 3:45 p.m. and firefighters cut into the roof of an exterior carport adjacent to the building. The fire appeared to be under control around 4:20 p.m.  The sprinkler system in the carport helped extinguish the blaze, authorities said. Damage was estimated at $120,000.

Department Store, Retail

Wilmington, DE – Fire at Macy’s Department Store suppressed by sprinkler system; No injuries

A fire at Macy’s in Concord Mall caused an estimated $150,000 in damages Thursday afternoon, according to fire officials. The blaze was reported shortly after 3 p.m. at the mall on Concord Pike in Brandywine Hundred, said Assistant State Fire Marshal Michael G. Chionchio in a press release.  Most of the fire damage occurred in a clothing storage area off the main sales floor, but smoke filled the department store, Chionchio said. The fire was suppressed by the building’s sprinkler system, he said.  The Talleyville Fire Company and several neighboring fire companies responded to the fire.  No injuries were reported, Chionchio said. The Delaware State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the origin and cause of the fire.

Department Store, Retail

San Diego, CA – Sprinklers activate to help firefighters stop blaze at Home Depot

A fire that started in a big rig full of Christmas decorations spread into a  Home Depot Wednesday night, forcing employees and shoppers to evacuate.

Employees at the Home Depot at 355 Marketplace Ave. in the Mountainview neighborhood called 911 at about 10:20 p.m. to report the fire. When firefighters arrived, the trailer was in flames in a loading dock and the fire had spread both inside and outside the warehouse, San Diego Fire Department Deputy Chief Steve Ricci said. Several propane tanks that were stored outside the warehouse exploded.

The first fire units called for additional help. They knocked down most of the flames in about 10 minutes. The fire caused the warehouse sprinkler system to go off and firefighters sprayed down the flames inside the warehouse, so there was both fire and water damage, Ricci said.

The Metro Arson Strike Team was trying to determine what started the trailer fire, Ricci said.

Department Store, Retail

Fresno, CA – Elevator machine room fire at J.C. Penney store held in check by sprinkler system

The J.C. Penney store at Fashion Fair Mall closed for business Sunday after an electrical fire prompted its evacuation.  Firefighters got to the store at 11:15 a.m. after smoke started flooding the area inside, Fresno Fire Capt. Brian Price said.

The damage was contained to the elevator equipment room where there was wire damage, Price said, and the sprinkler system already had the fire “in check.”

The fire was put out, and fire personnel worked on getting the system back in working order. The store is still closed, but Price said store staff said they hoped to reopen Monday morning.  “They’ve got some significant cleanup to do,” Price said.

 

Department Store, Retail

Shelby Township, MI – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in containing storage closet fire at Kohl’s store; No injuries

A fire inside a Kohl’s storage room early Wednesday afternoon prompted an evacuation and caused extensive smoke damage to the store and merchandise, according to the fire department. The fire ignited just before 1 p.m. inside a supply room at the back of Kohl’s at 25 Mile and Van Dyke, Fire Chief Jim Swinkowski said. There were no injuries reported.  “When our crews got there, they did encounter some heavy fire,” Swinkowski said.

The store was evacuated as soon as employees and customers saw smoke and the fire alarm sounded, Swinkowski said. The sprinkler system activated and fire personnel were able to extinguish the inferno before it spread beyond the storage room, which contained store supplies like signage and batteries.

“It did not spread to the rest of the store or the adjacent stores,” Swinkowski said of the fire. “But there was extensive smoke damage throughout Kohl’s.” Other stores at the shopping center include Target and Home Depot.

Kohl’s will remain closed Wednesday, Swinkowski said. The level of smoke damage to merchandise may make it difficult to reopen soon. “Anytime you’ve got smoke and you’re dealing with linens and clothing, they’re out there (in the store),” he said. “That is up to the Kohl’s loss prevention division to deal with that. It would be tough to be open (Thursday) but that’s not my area of expertise.”

Kohl’s representatives who answered the phone at the store Wednesday refused to comment.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation but is not considered suspicious, he said.

“We’re just beginning our investigation now so we will not know for some time,” Swinkowski said.