This story has been updated.
A fire broke out at the Campbell River Walmart on Thursday (Oct. 1) at around 10 p.m.
Campbell River Fire Department attended the call, which came in just before 10 p.m. The fire broke out in the paper products aisle at the Walmart.
In a video captured by witness Amanda Anderson, a small fire can be seen in an aisle at the Walmart. A section of the store was filled with smoke, and part of an aisle was seen in flames.
“No fire alarm. No sprinklers. Just the announcement saying for a manager to call someone then the fire got bigger and it said very calmly said ‘code red’ and that’s all,” Anderson said. “Then all the workers gathered up and walk[ed] out together slowly. And someone said ‘hey pull the fire alarm so people know to get out’ and the worker said ‘no it’s okay fire department is on [their] way.’ “
Deputy Fire Chief Kelly Bellefleur said that “The fire was kept right to the area of origin. That was great. It was certainly helped by the great work of the staff there that discharged a number of extinguishers on it as they were heading out of the store, and that kept it down until our crews got there and actually got the fire out.”
“When our crews arrived, the store was full of smoke and the fire was still burning,” he added. “We quickly got a hose into the store and put the fire out. We spent the next couple of hours working with fans to get the smoke out of the store as quickly as possible.”
Bellefleur added that there was extensive smoke damage to the building, but that fortunately nobody was injured in the incident.
Crews were on scene until around 1 a.m.
The cause of the fire is undetermined, but the RCMP are investigating and it appears suspicious.
Mirror staff put in a call to the store for comment.
More to come.
