After two fires recently broke out at a local Walmart, there is an eerie feeling while grocery shopping at the retail store.
When customers arrive at the Surrey Walmart in the Guildford Town Centre, they are greeted with large yellow neon signs informing them that the store is partially open as it recovers from a fire.
Nikitha Martins/Daily Hive
Walking through Walmart’s doors, customers immediately notice the barricades that stretch nearly the store’s width. Inside the metal fences, shelves are covered and taped in plastic tarps, and signs are posted throughout of the same message posted at the front of the store, which says parts of the store are closed as “we carry out the necessary cleanup and repairs.”
Rows of shelves have been emptied, and mountains of products have been swept into large plastic bags, boxes, and carts. If there is product on the shelves, signs within the barricades read “ready to be disposed,” and people in white coverall hazmat suits can be seen within the stores’ fenced-off areas.
Nikitha Martins/Daily Hive
Nikitha Martins/Daily Hive
Nikitha Martins/Daily Hive
Nikitha Martins/Daily Hive
While Walmart posted a note to customers saying the fire “appears to criminal acts of arson,” Surrey Fire Service (SFS) said the incident seemed suspicious but added that the cause is still under investigation.
However, Fire Chief Darren Major of Fire Prevention told Daily Hive, “The fire didn’t start on its own. It was held by somebody, which would indicate that it was intentionally set.”
Nikitha Martins/Daily Hive
Nikitha Martins/Daily Hive
Major explained that SRS received reports of the smoke Thursday around 10 pm in one of the bathrooms and in one of the Walmart departments.
Major confirmed that the store had some minor damage. He said some materials had been damaged by fire in the department section, and a towel dispenser had burned in the washroom.
“It did generate a lot of smoke. And there’s a significant amount of smoke damage throughout the area, which I believe closed down the Walmart itself for quite a while.”
Nikitha Martins/Daily Hive
SFS said it is working with Surrey RCMP.
Mounties added that no arrests had been made at this time, and no injuries were reported.
It’s unclear when the Walmart will fully reopen.