Update: Police make arrest for Fred Meyer fire; no shopping today at Richland store

The Richland Fred Meyer will remain closed until at least Sunday after an arsonist touched off a fire Friday night as he left the store without paying for merchandise.

On Saturday, Richland police arrested Daniel R. Wright, 35, of West Richland for first degree arson in connection with the Fred Meyer fire.

Jeffery Temple, director of corporate affairs for Fred Meyer, said the store will not reopen before Sunday as the investigation continues and officials assess the damage.

It was unclear what the impact would be on hourly employees. Temple said salaried employees will continue to be paid. Some employees ware still working in the building on inventory on other matters, but the building remains off limits to the public.

Fred Meyer, the Portland-based subsidiary of Kroger Corp., invested more than $12 million to update its Richland store last year. The project wrapped up in September with a grand re-opening, though the store did not actually close..

Richland police allege Wright set fire to items in the north end of the store at 9:24 p.m. Friday. Video shows a man carrying merchandise as he leaves without paying.

After leaving the store, the suspect left as the passenger in a light-colored, four-door sedan that may be missing its passenger-side rear hubcap. Police are searching for a second man who was wearing a dark colored jacket.

The Richland store is at 101 Wellsian Way and is one of two Fred Meyer locations in the Tri-Cities. The other is in Kennewick

Anyone with information about the incident should call 509-628-0333 or email the detective at hstohel@ci.richland.wa.us.

This story was originally published January 27, 2018 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Update: Police make arrest for Fred Meyer fire; no shopping today at Richland store."