Imagine this — you’re going to Walmart to pick something up, but when you get there, they don’t have it in stock anymore. What’s worse? The reason they don’t have it in stock is that it’s currently on fire.


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That’s what happened to shoppers in Sparta, Wisconsin yesterday, who entered their local Walmart to be immediately greeted by a tower of flames.



According to a report from WXOW News 19, the fire broke out in the store’s fabric section. As can be seen in the many videos of the event, the store’s sprinkler system was unable to contain the flames, leading to the fire department being called to extinguish the fire at around 10:45 a.m.


Thankfully, they were able to do so, though actually finding all of the hot spots and clearing the store took until 5:30 p.m. that evening.



In total, preliminary estimates put the fire damage at around $7 million minimum, not counting all of the time that the store will have to be closed in order to repair and replace the items lost to the flames.


So what was the cause of the fire, you ask? Why, a local teen, of course! According to police, the 17-year-old “is in the Monroe County Jail and faces multiple charges including arson and recklessly endangering safety,” per WXOW.


No word as to why he did it — maybe he was mad, maybe he just got tired waiting for someone to unlock a case and tried to improvise with a lighter. Regardless, we’re happy to say that no one was hurt, though if you’re in the Sparta, Wisconsin area, you might have to buy your Packers tees somewhere else for the next few weeks.