Elementary school boy sets fire to clothing rack at Pasco Walmart, forcing evacuation

A young boy with a lighter started a clothing rack on fire at the Pasco Walmart on Tuesday night, forcing the store to be evacuated.

The boy, who is believed to be elementary school aged, wandered away from his mom while she was checking out about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, Pasco Sgt. Rigo Pruneda said. He then used a cigarette lighter to start one rack on fire.

The child tried to start a second rack on fire as well, but wasn’t successful, said Deputy Fire Chief Ed Dunbar.

The child then rejoined his mother and they left the store together before the fire was spotted, Pruneda said. Detectives are still trying to determine who the mother and child were.

Flames had mostly engulfed the rack by the time a security employee grabbed the extinguisher and started putting it out. At the same time, the store was being evacuated.

Firefighters doused the smoldering remains and worked with the store’s maintenance staff to clear out the smoke.

No one was hurt but the store had some light smoke damage, a destroyed clothes rack and dust from the fire extinguisher to clean up, Dunbar said.

He credited the training of the store employees for preventing a more serious incident.

The store closed early but was expected to be back to normal operations Wednesday.