At 4:45 p.m. on Friday, the Manhattan Fire Department was dispatched to 101 Bluemont Ave., Walmart, for a report of a structure fire. Upon arrival, crews found people evacuating and light smoke showing at the doors. Employees were extinguishing the fire as crews arrived at the middle of the store where the fire occurred. Crews ensured that extinguishment was complete by overhauling the area and taking smoldering material outside. A total of 16 firefighters responded on 6 fire apparatus. Walmart is still closed at the time of this release while fire crews evacuate smoke from inside the building.
No injuries were reported. The fire loss is not yet available, but it is expected to be considerable due to smoke damage throughout the building. The owner is listed as Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust of Bentonville, AR. The fire cause is under investigation at this time.
Riley County Police Department, Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office, and Pottawatomie County EMS responded to assist.
The Manhattan Fire Department is an ISO Class I, career fire department, serving the City of Manhattan from five fire stations. The department provides fire, emergency medical first response, technician-level hazardous material response, and technical rescue including vehicle extrication, trench, high and low angle, surface water, structural collapse, and wide area search. The department serves as a Type I regional hazardous materials response team through the State Fire Marshal primarily serving 8 counties in the surrounding area. MFD is part of Northeast Task Force 2, a search and rescue/water rescue team with other area departments, and is tasked to cover 23 counties for urban search and rescue response.
