WPS investigating ‘suspicious’ trio of fires at Walmart stores

WINNIPEG – Police are probing three fires at three different Walmart stores that all happened over the course of three hours Thursday night.

The Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service (WFPS) was called to the first fire at the Walmart on Empress Street and Sargent Ave shortly after 6 p.m.

People in the store had started to put the fire out with hand-held extinguishers and fire crews finished the job when they arrived.

Around 7:20 p.m., WFPS was called to the Walmart in the shopping area on Regent Ave West.

In this fire, hand-held extinguishers were able to snuff out the flames completely.

Then, around 8:50 p.m., firefighters were called to the Walmart on Court Avenue near McPhillips Street. People in the store were able to put the fire out before WFPS got there.

“The fact that three different locations of the same business were hit in a close proximity of time is exceptionally unusual,” said Const. Jay Murray with WPS. He said detectives are treating these fires as a case of arson.

While police believe there’s a connection to all three fires, investigators say they don’t think it was to do with Walmart’s in-store mask policy.

“We haven’t seen any of that in our investigation,” said Murray. “We have our own theory, evidence we’re working off, and it doesn’t suggest that whatsoever.”

Walmart Canada announced it was making masks or face coverings mandatory in all stores starting Aug. 12 regardless of whether a local government mandate was in place.

-with files from Mark Neufeld