Clothing Fire Forces Evacuation of Hilo Walmart

A suspicious fire in the men’s clothing section of Walmart in Hilo forced an evacuation Tuesday afternoon.

An eyewitness told Big Island Now that the incident occurred at approximately 4:30 p.m. when smoke was seen coming from the men’s clothing area. Store management evacuated the store at that time.

Walmart employees remained outside of the store hours after a clothing fire closed it down Tuesday afternoon. Photo credit: Josh Pacheco.

Workers remained outside of the store for hours after the incident as officials from the Hawai’i Police Department and the Hawai’i County Fire Department assessed the situation. Management conducted a meeting with employees and made the decision at approximately 7:45 p.m. that the store would not re-open for business for the remainder of the evening, according to a source.

No exact word was given on how the fire was started. Many of the charred items remained outside of the store hours after the incident happened.

It is not known when Walmart will re-open. HPD has not announced if any arrests were made.