Fire temporarily closes Walmart

A tiny fire created a big mess inside the Barnwell Walmart Friday afternoon.

Firefighters from the City of Barnwell Fire Department were dispatched to the Walmart on Dunbarton Boulevard around 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 for a report of a fire in the lawn and garden section. Firefighters discovered the fire was inside the lawn and garden section in a display in the Christmas section, said Fire Chief Tony Dicks.

“This was close to becoming a major fire, but it ran out of fuel. This is the worst damage we’ve seen in our local Walmart. The plastic that burned created a lot of black smoke,” said Dicks.

Though fire damage was contained to a small area of Christmas decorations, there was heavy smoke throughout the building. Crews from neighboring fire departments brought fans to help clear smoke from the building. No injuries were reported.

“There was about $200 merchandise that actually burned but the smoke probably caused a couple million dollars in loss,” said Chief Dicks. “There’s a lot of smoke odor.”

The chief said he understands most merchandise had to be removed, meaning the store will be completely restocked before it reopens to the public. Crews were seen over the weekend removing merchandise and Barnwell police officers provided security to prevent dumpster divers.

The building is being thoroughly cleaned by professional disaster response crews.

“As an essential store to the community, our goal is to assess any damage and reopen as quickly as possible. We look forward to seeing you back in our store soon!” according to a post on the Barnwell Walmart Facebook page.

As of press time Tuesday, Walmart officials hoped to reopen the grocery section on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 8 a.m. The fire department has provided a temporary certificate of occupancy. The rest of the store is sectioned off as the cleaning and restocking process continues. It’s unclear at this time when the entire store will reopen.

Chief Dicks said his department provided a quick response. Firefighters received the call at 4:38 p.m., were enroute at 4:39 p.m., and arrived on scene at 4:41 p.m., he said.

“Someone made an effort to extinguish the fire with an extinguisher,” said Chief Dicks of Facebook video showing two men working to extinguish the fire before firefighters arrived. “I would love to know who they were.”

This quick action from the customers who grabbed fire extinguishers likely prevented the fire from growing, said the chief. Once firefighters arrived, they found a small amount of debris still burning. They quickly finished the job with fire extinguishers, never needing the aid of fire hose and water. The fire was under control at 4:47 p.m.

While some people have posed questions on Facebook about the store’s fire alarms and sprinklers, Dicks said the building is 100 percent code compliant with a working sprinkler system and fire alarm, plus many extinguishers.

“There was not enough heat to activate the fire sprinklers,” said Dicks of how a fire must reach approximately 185 degrees to set off the sprinklers.

Chief Dicks said that building is not required to have an alarm that’s activated automatically. Instead, there are stations throughout the store that can be manually set off. Though the alarm was working, it was not activated during this fire.

“The staff made every effort with the intercom to alert everyone,” said Dicks.

Sharon Blakeney was inside the store when the fire ignited. As the wife of a long-time firefighter, she has seen how many fires have been handled, but she commends everyone for the response to the Walmart fire.

“The employees were awesome in evaluating the store, which was very busy. There was no screaming, pushing, or drama. Less than five minutes and the store was empty and Barnwell Fire Department was on scene as well as EMS. The smoothest evacuation I've ever seen. These employees are hometown heroes,” she said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. After checking video footage, police do not see evidence to make them suspect foul play. They believe the fire could have been caused by battery-operated houses or ornaments that were on the shelf that ignited.

“Loss management will be coming in to determine what caused the fire. It’s beyond our capability at this point,” said Dicks.

This was the Barnwell Fire Department’s 294th call of the year.