BEAVERCREEK WALMART REMAINS CLOSED AFTER FIRE
Store is not expected to open until at least early next week.
The Beavercreek Walmart Supercenter is expected to remain closed until at least early next week after a fire shut the retailer down Wednesday afternoon.
Part of an array of solar panels caught fire on the roof of the building near gas lines at 3360 Pentagon Blvd. The cause was not immediately determined, and county building inspectors will have to OK the store to reopen after tests are run, according to Beavercreek Twp. Deputy Fire Chief Scott Dorsten.
Tara Aston, a spokesperson for Walmart from the corporate office, said Friday the store “is still in the assessment process and they are working with the county to reopen the store as soon as possible.”
Aston declined to answer questions as to how much damage the fire caused, the costs involved and when the store is expected to reopen.
Employees who answered the phone at the store this week indicated the store might reopen Monday or Tuesday.
The fire forced the evacuations of Walmart and several
continued from B1 other stores in the Fairfield Crossing retail center.
Customer Ray Abling, of Fairborn, said he was inside Walmart when the evacuation was ordered.
“I was just in there shopping. The next thing I knew they told us to evacuate,” Abling said.
Abling said he and his wife left their cart behind and headed out of the store. He said staff didn’t say what was going on, but that no one panicked.
“When I got out to my van I looked up and seen that smoke, somewhere out back . ... It was billowing black ... there was a lot of smoke,” he said.
Vectren and Dayton Power and Light were called to the scene to shut down energy feeds and check damages to gas and electric lines.
Crews were dispatched to the scene at 3:55 p.m., according to emergency dispatch records.
Dorsten said it took about 15 minutes to get the fire under control. Customers and employees were allowed back into the other stores after the fire was determined to be only affecting the Walmart building.
Mutual aid was provided at the scene by crews from Riverside, Fairborn and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The store gained notoriety in August 2014, when Beavercreek police responding to the report of a man with a gun inside the store shot and killed 22-year-old John Crawford III. Crawford was carrying a BB/pellet rifle he had picked up from a shelf while shopping. A mother, 37-year-old Angela Williams, suffered a fatal heart attack as she was fleeing from the store with her daughter. Contact this reporter at 937225-6985 or email Richard. Wilson@coxinc.com.