Staff report
CONCORD ó The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for deliberately setting a fire at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on May 5.
ATF, along with the Concord Police Department and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, released photographs Wednesday of people “believed to have information that may be useful to the investigation,” a press release said.
The fire resulted in more than $4 million in damage from fire loss and business interruption at the store, which sits just inside Concord at its border with Kannapolis off Interstate 85 at Dale Earnhardt Boulevard.
Photographs of a vehicle believed to be operated by the individuals were also released.
Investigators determined the fire, which broke out in the floral area of the 2420 Supercenter Drive store around 11:15 p.m., was deliberately set. The store’s sprinkler system extinguished the blaze, but firefighters spent hours getting smoke out of the building.
Earl Woodham of the ATF said his case agent told him that nearly everything in the store had to be taken out after the fire.
Anyone who provides any information or assistance in the investigation can do so anonymously, the ATF said.
Investigators ask anyone who recognizes people in the photographs to contact the Concord Police Department at 704-920-5000, the State Bureau of Investigation at 800-334-3000 or the ATF fire hotline at 888-283-3473.
The photographs are also available at www.atf.gov under “Breaking News.”
ATF is the federal agency with jurisdiction for investigating explosions and fires.