KANNAPOLIS ó Firefighters spent about four hours getting smoke out of the Wal-Mart Supercenter near Kannapolis after a Monday night blaze.
The store, which is at 2420 SuperCenter Drive at the border of Concord and Kannapolis, remains closed.
Firefighters were dispatched to the blaze at 11:16 p.m., according to the Concord Fire Department.
By the time they got there about five minutes later, the flames were extinguished, said Norman Franklin, public information officer for the Concord Fire Department.
“The sprinkler system activated and basically put the fire out,” Franklin said.
The fire likely started in the back of the store in the crafts department, Franklin said. But heavy smoke filled the entire store, he said.
“Now it’s in all the clothes, all the towels, all the fruits and vegetables,” Franklin said.
Firefighters brought in about a dozen large fans to help ease the smoke, and they also opened a skylight in the store’s ceiling to let smoke escape, he said.
Franklin said a store manager told him the store might reopen in a day or two. But that might be unlikely, he said.
“A lot of stuff has to be cleaned up, because you’re going to have that smoke smell in there,” he said.
Wal-Mart employees were allowed back in the store about 4 a.m. Monday to start the cleanup process, Franklin said.
The cause of the blaze is still unknown and remains under investigation.
Five Concord Fire & Life Safety rescue units, with 19 firefighters, responded to the fire. The number of Kannapolis firefighters was not available.