14-Year-Old Girl Arrested in Connection to Walmart Peachtree City Fire The Georgia Walmart was engulfed in flames after customers saw smoke coming from the paper aisle.
Our biggest sale — Get unlimited access to Entrepreneur.com at an unbeatable price. Use code SAVE50 at checkout.*
Claim Offer*Offer only available to new subscribers
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
A 14-year-old girl has been arrested by Peachtree City police in relation to the damaging Walmart fire in Peachtree City, Georgia. Officials who are investigating the alleged arson have yet to name the suspect and determine a motive, Fox 5 Atlanta reported Wednesday.
The fire, which started in the paper goods aisle, erupted in the Georgia Walmart while customers were inside the store on the evening of August 24. Peachtree City police officers were the first to arrive at the scene, and firefighters began taming the flames around 7:20 p.m., following multiple alarms, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
Police officers who entered the building to evacuate customers were hit with a wall of heavy smoke, and three were treated for smoke inhalation, per USA Today. All employees and customers were evacuated before firefighters entered the store. A wall of fire engulfed the store's merchandise and rose to the roof, which eventually collapsed.
Can't believe everything that happened at work today. The fire at the Walmart in Peachtree City, GA was started in the aisle with napkins, paper towels, and toilet paper. Everything happened so quick...Here's a photo I took when I first saw it! pic.twitter.com/Ju3nKg52H9
— Shawn Phon (@RashawnPhon) August 25, 2022
"While fighting the fire with a large amount of water, they reported the structural members from the roof began to collapse on them, so the decision was made to back out, and the incident commander made the decision to go defensive and fight the fire from the outside of the building," Peachtree City Fire Department assistant chief Wilbur Harbin said, per Fox.
Several customers and employees took to social media to share videos and photos of the ordeal. One employee shared a photo of a paper goods aisle engulfed in flames and another of the thick black smoke pouring through the collapsed ceiling on Twitter. "Can't believe everything that happened at work today. The fire at the Walmart in Peachtree City, GA was started in the aisle with napkins, paper towels, and toilet paper," he captioned his post, adding, "Everything happened so quick...Here's a photo I took when I first saw it!"
In one TikTok video of the incident, customers can be seen evacuating the building — carts still in tow — as flames erupt behind them.
@sigmaayh Walmart on fire #walmart #walmartfire ♬ original sound - Sigmaayh
Firefighters eventually extinguished the fire in the late evening. The three police officers have the only injuries reported. The fire left the store with significant damage to the roof and interior, per Fox. The Peachtree City Walmart will be temporarily closed to assess the damages, but the store has no timeline to reopen.
