Columbus Walmart evacuated after meat freezer catches fire

The Walmart Supercenter at 5448 Whittlesey Boulevard was evacuated this afternoon after the meat freezer in retail area of the store caught fire, authorities said.

The fire has been extinguished and no one was harmed, Columbus Fire Marshal Ricky Shores said around 1:33 p.m.

"Some electrical wires caught on fire," he said. "It's about $10,000 [worth of] damage that we're estimating to the freezer, but [Walmart] is back in business and everything is safe."

Shores said Columbus firefighters were called to the incident at 12:26 p.m. Upon arrival, officials requested that everyone evacuate the building, because they didn't know the severity of the situation.

"Since it was such a large facility, they just wanted to make sure that everyone was safe," the marshal said. "Once they found out what they had, they were able to put it out with a [Carbon Dioxide] extinguisher."

---Sarah is a crime and safety reporter at The Ledger-Enquirer. You can contact her on Twitter at @SarahR_92.

This story was originally published August 19, 2015 at 2:39 PM with the headline "Columbus Walmart evacuated after meat freezer catches fire ."