WCH Walmart evacuates people due to fire

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At approximately noon on Monday the Walmart in Washington C.H. evacuated customers and employees due to a fire in the store.

The Washington Fire Department (WFD) reported to the scene at 1397 Leesburg Ave. According to WFD Fire Chief Tim Downing, the Concord-Green Township Fire Department was called in for mutual aid.

“The fire itself was relatively small, confined to one area (in the storage rooms near the meat section),” said Downing.

The fire, according to Downing, was located above one of the coolers and was in relation to the construction ongoing at the store. There were no injuries reported.

“Walmart did a very good job (handling the situation). By the time our people were there, the entire store was evacuated,” said Downing. “One of the (Walmart) employees on site did use extinguishers to knock the fire down. Then our firefighters went in and finished putting the fire out and cleaning all the burning and smoldering debris out of the structure.”

Downing said that both the WFD firefighters and Concord-Green firefighters did a “fantastic” job.

“Thanks to (Concord-Green), we were able to have the staffing to handle this fire,” he said. “The sheriff’s (office), the police department, EMS — all on scene, all helping to maintain crowd control and making sure that nobody went in or out of the building.”

According to Downing, this was his second incident where they needed to work with Fayette County Public Health (FCPH). Before Walmart could reopen, they would need to get the “OK” from FCPH, explained Downing.

He also mentioned that it was brought to his attention that a person took photos of the fire prior to evacuating.

“I would encourage everyone to remember that there is not a lot of time when there is a fire — a fire can grow very quickly, and it’s the smoke that’s the most dangerous. As the smoke spreads, it can definitely put people in danger very quickly. So, we really just need to get out and not take pictures of the fires,” he said. “With a fire, it’s always just best to get out right away. That way we don’t have the possibility of entrapped victims. If somebody gets injured, it means our firefighters now can’t fight the fire because we have to remove that victim. That can be more hazardous for everybody involved.”

Reach journalist Jennifer Woods at 740-313-0355.

On Monday at approximately noon, customers and employees were evacuated from the Walmart store in Washington C.H. due to a fire in the building.
https://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2021/05/web1_IMG_20210510_121453854.jpgOn Monday at approximately noon, customers and employees were evacuated from the Walmart store in Washington C.H. due to a fire in the building. Martin Graham | AIM Media Midwest

By Jennifer Woods

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