Smouldering diapers were no joke to Walmart Canada, which reports substantial losses in business and merchandise after a fire that was set in its Nanaimo store last month.

Police and firefighters were called to the Walmart at Woodgrove Centre the afternoon of Feb. 22. The fire, set in a box of diapers, was small and had been extinguished by employees by the time firefighters arrived, but damage from fire extinguisher chemicals and smoke contamination forced the storesa国际传媒檚 closure.

sa国际传媒淭he store was closed for five days as we carried out the necessary clean-up and repairs resulting from the arson, a significant financial and product loss,sa国际传媒� said Walmart Canada in a written statement to the News Bulletin this week. sa国际传媒淭ens of thousands of items, including food, have been destroyed due to the damage. In this case, given the fire was set in our baby area, the items required to be destroyed also included baby essentials like infant formula, baby food and diapering items.sa国际传媒�

Walmart went on to say the fire is being investigated sa国际传媒渁s a criminal act of arson that unfortunately and unfairly impacts our customers, associates and the local community who rely on the store. Setting a fire in a public setting with hundreds of people inside is shocking, dangerous and shameful.sa国际传媒�

The corporation extended its thanks to all first responders who attended the fire and said it worked with local officials to ensure the store was safe and brought back to sa国际传媒渟tandards our customers expect and deserve.sa国际传媒� Walmart said it is co-operating with the police investigation.

sa国际传媒淲e will do everything we can to ensure the arsonist is identified and held accountable, including by assessing our legal options to seek compensation from the arsonist for the damages caused by this act,sa国际传媒� the statement noted.

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Reserve Const. Gary Osa国际传媒橞rien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson, said the police investigation is ongoing.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e moving forward with identifying a person of interest,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淎t this time we do not have any concrete suspect involved with the fire. We know that there are individuals who are aware and have information and we need to speak to them.sa国际传媒�

Anyone with information about the fire or the person who set it is asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP detachment non-emergency line at 250-754-2345 and quote file No. 2023-6199.

chris.bush@nanaimobulletin.com
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