A Review of Recent Incidents Involving Dollar Stores
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A RIVERDALE, GEORGIA, FAMILY DOLLAR Store was burned out in late November. The fire started around 2 pm while the store was open and the manager tried to put it out with a portable extinguisher. He said it was stock on the shelves that was burning, but it was growing faster than he could control it. He then evacuated the store.
When the FD arrived the fire had already spread through the store making it impossible to launch an interior attack. They did manage to contain it and keep it from spreding through the strip mall.
WSB-TV provided this video report:
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A DOLLAR GENERAL STORE IN HAMPTON, VIRGINIA, lost most of its store stock to a fire that was started by a malfunctioning drink cooler. The store was closed at the time of the morning fire. The FD breached the wall from a store next door to get to the fire.
AN OUTDOOR SIGN ON THE FRONT of the Covington, Louisiana, caught on fire in the evening hours and was destroyed. The FD put it out quickly and checked behind the fascia where they found there was no extension into the roof or the interior of the store.
A FIRE THAT STARTED IN A BAR in Detroit, Michigan, last month burned out the Dexter Bar and spread to the next occupancy, the Magic Dollar Store, also consuming it entirely.
A Review of Recent Incidents Involving Dollar Stores
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IN MCKINNEY, TEXAS, A DERANGED man was arrested as he was setting fire inside a dollar store during business hours.
The McKinney Star reports:
Around 1:30 p.m., McKinney police received a call from the Dollar Tree store on the southeast corner of Eldorado Parkway and Central Expressway. The caller said a man, soon determined to be 33-year-old Damon Cooper, had entered the store and begun pouring lighter fluid all over, said McKinney Deputy Chief Joe Ellenburg.
A nearby police officer responded to the call, and immediately saw flames in the back of the store. When additional officers arrived on scene, Cooper began throwing canned goods at the windows.
McKinney fire personnel arrived shortly thereafter to extinguish the fire before it spread to adjacent businesses.
In the parking lot outside, police found posters and flyers scattered around claiming that he was being persecuted for a variety of imagined reasons. He has been charged with felony arson and is being held without bond.
A DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, FIREFIGHTER WAS FIRED last Wednesday, a day after he was arrested and charged with 8 armed robberies of local businesses. Damon Quick was nabbed in the act of holding up a Dollar General store. Among his holdups are those of 3 Family Dollar stores, 1 Dollar General and 1 Dollar Tree.
His capture is credited to a city-wide stakeout of dollar stores after seeing the pattern of his activity. All of those he is charged with were committed in May and June of this year. During some of them he was wearing a green mask and earned the nickname "Green Goblin robber."
He already had a lengthy petty criminal record, but the FD never chose to terminate him, claiming that they never had enough of a "basis" to get rid of him (to which Firegeezer sez: "Bull Hockey.")
WRAL-TV has the story HERE and also produced this video report:
The Durham News also tells:
Quick, whose salary was $40,428, had worked for the Fire Department since 2003. He was fired Wednesday after he was arrested Tuesday night on 43 charges connected to the robberies and jailed under $9 million bail.
Quick is also a suspect in the theft of about $1,200 from individual firefighters, officials said at a news conference Wednesday morning.
"This is not representative of our department," Fire Chief Bruce Pagan Jr. said. "We have a department who prides itself on being honest and carrying out our duty with pride and integrity. I don’t want the public to think this is a widespread situation."
A FIRE IN EARLY APRIL DESTROYED a Dollarama store in Windsor, Ontario. The fire started while the store was open and was reported around 8:15 pm when a customer saw smoke in one of the aisles. When the FD arrived they found smoke and fire showing and started an interior attack. But the fire got into the roof area and they pulled out.
CBC News
Eventually the roof collapsed and the entire store was lost. The firefighters were able to contain it to the Dollarama store which was located in a strip shopping center. It was expected to take several weeks to find the cause.
A fire that witnesses said appeared to break out in the greeting card section of the Dollar General quickly engulfed the store in flames and damaged surrounding businesses in the Meadow Mart shopping center today.
More than 10 northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin fire departments responded to the five-alarm blaze. The fire was reported at 1:31 p.m. when a Dollar General customer spotted flames and alerted store manager Carrie Taylor.
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AN ARSON IN THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE in Hughes, Arkansas, spread through the stip shopping center and heavily damaged the town's only grocery store.
WREG-TV reports:
Two people have been charged with the fire that not only destroyed the Family Dollar Store but heavily damaged businesses near by.
The fire was in a strip mall in Hughes Arkansas and it quickly spread to the town’s only grocery store. Lock’s Food Center, the only full service grocery store in town, was damaged and is now closed.
The Family Dollar Store and three other businesses in the strip mall are gone along with a few dozen jobs. Wallace Lock says it’s a hard blow for the town, "Everybody in this shopping center now is out of work…at least until further notice. and in a tough economy it makes it even harder."
Investigators say two burglars set a fire in the doorway of the Family Dollar Store to coverup their break-in.
Witnesses led deputies to 19-year-old Kendrick Robinson and a juvenile both from Hughes. Robinson and the 17-year-old juvenile are charged with burglary, theft and arson.
A Review of Recent Incidents Involving Dollar Stores
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GASTONIA, NORTH CAROLINA, POLICE SAY that a local teenager used a lighter to set a fire in a Dollar Tree store on January 2, shortly after 5 pm. By 10 pm Todd Alexander Bryson, 16, was jailed under a $25,000 secured bond facing an arson-related charge.
The two-alarm fire was reported about 5:24 p.m. Monday. It occurred in the aisle where potato chips and other snacks are displayed, according to Gaston County Assistant Fire Marshal Billy Glover. Police were able to arrest Bryson before he left (the shopping center). They said he probably set fire to just one item.
"There’s no indication of any reason he’d want to start the fire," said Sgt. Jimmy Arndt with Gastonia Police Department. Bryson was standing in the parking lot with his mother and some acquaintances when taken into custody, Arndt said.
Glover said combined damage will likely exceed $500,000 and could hit $1 million.
The building's sprinkler system helped contain the blaze, but there was still significant damage to both the structure and the merchandise, mainly from smoke and water damage. Bryson was charged with felony arson and is subject to additional charges.
The store reopened on January 19 while Bryson was still in jail.
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WISH-TV IN INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA reported that two employees suffered smoke inhalation in a fire set by a customer trying to steal items from a Wayne Township Family Dollar store on January 9.
Firefighters were called to the store near Lynhurst Drive and Rockville Road just after 11:30 a.m. The first units arrived to find a small fire had already been extinguished by employees. They say it appears a would-be shoplifter set the fire as a distraction.
The suspect fled from the store but was identified on a surveillance tape.
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IN NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI, A FIRE BROKE OUT in a Dollar General store around 2 pm on January 10.
"The manager said everybody was in the front of the store, and when he turned around he could see smoke coming from the back of the building," Natchez Fire Chief Oliver Stewart said.
Most of the fire damage was limited to the rear of the building, but Oliver said the exact point of origin for the fire had not been determined Tuesday afternoon. "They have an office in the rear, and it looks like it started in that office," Stewart said. "We are looking there."
The fire burned out the storeroom and caused some structural damage in that area. The firewalls between the stores in the shopping center prevented the fire from spreading into the adjoining businesses.
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MONDAY JANUARY 16, A CAR inexplicably drove through the main entrance of a Van Nuys, California, 99¢ store. Although the car plowed right into the main egress at 1 pm, there were no injuries. Damages amounted to at least $5,000.99.
KCBS-TV ran this video report:
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A JONESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA, TEEN WAS ARRESTED after setting a fire in a Dollar General store on January 14. The blaze kept the firefighters on the scene for 12 hours as the building was gutted. There was some extension into other stores in the shopping center, but none of them had major damage with most being able to reopen within 2-3 days.
A 16-yr.-old boy has been charged with the arson, but neither his identity or motive were disclosed by the police.
WGHP-TV has the details in this video report:
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This is a continuing series of fire / rescue incidents involving "dollar stores." Read previous Dollar Store Updates HERE.
It Has Been Several Months Since Our Last Update,
So Some Of These Incidents Date Back A Bit.
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GILROY, CALIFORNIA, FIREFIGHTERS RESPONDED to the 99¢ Only store at 9 pm on May 25 for a fire with a sprinkler activation. The Gilroy Patch reported:
Investigators suspect that an arsonist is to blame for a fire at the 99 Cents Only store on East 10th Street Wednesday night, according to Gilroy firefighter Heinz Maibaum. "It’s still under investigation as to who started it, but it was a who," he said.
The preliminary investigation revealed that the suspected arsonist used a lighter from inside the store to ignite a row of plastic flowers displayed outside around 9 p.m., Maibaum said. The building’s sprinkler system activated, helping to control the blaze while workers doused it with a fire extinguisher.
Gilroy 99¢ Only store (Google Street View)
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ON FRIDAY MAY 27 THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE in downtown Alpine, Texas, was burned out by a fire that is believed to have started from an electrical problem just before midnight.
Most of the fire was concentrated on the right half of the building, where merchandise, shelving, roofing and flooring were a tangled, melted morass of black ash and sludge. The left half of the building suffered extensive smoke and water damage.
Brandon White, an Alpine contractor working for the owner, said he’d recommend that the building be torn down. He and a crew were busy Sunday morning finishing up the boarding-up process.
Daily Planet
In an update published on July 28 the Alpine Avalanchereported:
The fire that nearly gutted Alpine's Family Dollar store in late May has been ruled "undetermined" by the State Fire Marshal's Office, according to Alpine police Lt. Darrell Losoya.
Losoya, who helped insurance and state investigators comb through the debris, said Wednesday that the May 27 blaze burned from the outside in, but two state investigators didn't find any accelerants or specific wiring that may have ignited the fire. He said an arson-detection dog also found no evidence of accelerant.
The investigators sent the breaker box, the point of origin, to the State Fire Marshal's crime lab, which returned a finding of "undetermined," Losoya said.
Losoya, who has examined four fires in his capacity as the Alpine Police Department's chief investigator, said he and the other men had to "dig through spilled dog food – it was disgusting" inside the burned building.
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THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE IN BARNEVELD, New York, was heavily damaged on June 1 when a fire broke out in a stock room around 8:30 pm. When the first units arrived they found smoke showing on all sides and flames visible in the front windows and the eaves.
WKTV image
They had the fire knocked down by 9:20 and extinguished at 10:09.
WKTV Ch. 2 Utica filed this video report from the scene:
THE TYLER, TEXAS, MORNING TELEGRAPHreported that a 14-year-old girl was accused of setting a fire at a Dollar General Store on June 15 and was ordered to be sent to a secure psychiatric facility in San Antonio.
The Kaufman County juvenile has been in the custody of Child Protective Services for five years, said Tracey Wolfe of Court Appointed Special Advocates on June 16. "She has some good qualities, but she makes decisions not good for herself or others," Ms. Wolfe said at that first hearing.
The Tyler Fire Department extinguished the fire, which began near a display of toilet paper. A second alarm sounded as the first fire engine arrived on the scene, but firefighters were quickly able to control the fire.
The store was able to reopen for business.
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THE VALDOSTA, GEORGIA, FIRE DEPARTMENT was called to the Super Dollar store on July 5 around 6 pm. A 6-yr.-old boy had snitched a lighter from a display near the cash register and proceeded to use it to set a rack of dresses on fire. WCTV-TV reported:
"Some of the customers saw that dresses were on fire and that the fire was just getting bigger," says Michella Robinson, who was working at the register when the fire started. "And so one of the customers that was just coming in, he came in and grabbed the extinguisher from by the front door and he put the fire out."
No charges were filed against the boy's mother, but he will be enrolled in the Juvenile Fire Setter Program.
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This is a continuing series of fire incidents involving "dollar stores." Read previous Dollar Store Updates HERE.
Family Dollar Stores Recalls Remote Controlled Toy Tanks Due to Burn Hazard
The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall by Family Dollar Stores, Inc. of the Authentic Heroes Target Practice Tank play set, a remote-controlled green toy tank attached by a cable to a grey battery-powered controller. The controller requires three AAA batteries to power the tank to move forward and backward and the tank turret to rotate and shoot projectiles. The controller is marked “Target Practice Tank Play Set.”
About 67,000 of the toy games have been recalled because the tank’s controller can overheat and melt, posing a burn hazard to consumers. It was sold exclusively by Dollar Stores, Inc. and retailed for $5.
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A FAMILY DOLLAR STORE IN BEAUMONT, TEXAS, HAD A FIRE last Saturday morning (January 29) when an exhaust fan overheated and started a fire in a utility room. The Beaumont Enterprise tells us:
Beaumont firefighters arrived at the smoke-filled store, at 1005 Washington Blvd., about 2 a.m. Saturday.
They could see the glow of a fire from inside the building, a Beaumont Fire Department press release states.
A vent fan in the store’s utility room apparently caused the blaze.
Fire damage was limited to the utility room. Elsewhere, there was smoke damage and water damage from a pipe that broke during the fire and flooded the store.
Beaumont Family Dollar Store (Google Street View)
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IN SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, TWO JUVENILES went into a Family Dollar store and purchased some common household goods, then they went out to the parking lot and used their purchase to make two bottle bombs. They placed one at the front entrance and the other outside a rear door, then they skedaddled. A passerby saw them set the one at the front door and called the police.
By the time the police and the Springfield Fire Department arrived, the homemade bomb at the read went off. The front of the store was taped off while the police deactivated the intact water bottle.
The “bombs” are a stunt a bit higher than a parlor trick where you put a piece of aluminum foil in a bottle of water and add some cleaning solution. The chemical reaction causes a pressure build-up that eventually blows the bottle apart.
There were no injuries, no damages, and no captures. The Springfield News-Sun has the STORY.
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Dollar Store Updates is an irregular feature of Firegeezer. For previous Dollar Store news CLICK HERE to view them or select Dollar Stores in the category sidebar box.
ON DECEMBER 2 IN THE ROSELAND neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, the roof of a Family Dollar store suddenly collapsed around 6:20 pm while they were open for business. Four people had to be taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Fire officials believe that an accumulation of ice and water created enough weight to bring it down.
WGN-TV filed this video report from the scene:
Hat Tip: William K.
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IN AFTON, WYOMING, THE STAR VALLEY INDEPENDENT reported:
The Afton Fire Department responded to a fire on the roof of Family Dollar on Saturday, Dec. 11. Afton Fire Chief Rodd Hillyard explained that snow slid onto a natural gas line causing it to break on top of the building. The line was connected to a heater on the building. Fire and water damage occurred on and around the vicinity of the broken line and heater.
The Dollar Store is in a building complex with Western Wyoming Community College and Subway. No damage was reported to the adjoining offices and businesses. Three trucks and 24 volunteer firefighters responded to the 9:48 a.m. emergency call.
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THE ENTIRE STOCK ROOM WAS BURNED OUT in the Princeton, Kentucky, Dollar General store on November 19. The fire started outside of the rear of the store and spread into the stock room. The Princeton Times Leader tells us:
The fire destroyed merchandise stored in the rear of the building, but the shelves of stock inside the store appear unscathed thanks to the efforts of Princeton Fire and Rescue.
“It could have been a lot worse, but this fire department did a fine job,” said Harold Peach, who owns the building and leases it to Dollar General. “The fire ruined the stock room completely; but as far as the frame of the building, it doesn’t seem to be hurt.”
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTED from Mount Vernon, Washington, on December 9:
Police say a suspicious package prompted the evacuation of businesses in a strip mall Thursday evening. Lt. Chris Cammock says the package left outside the front door of the Dollar Tree store had wires sticking out of it.Police determined it contained shrapnel, wires and a battery but no detonating device.
Cammock tells the Skagit Valley Herald it was a “very good hoax device.”
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THE DOLLAR TREE ONLINE STORE is selling plastic fireman’s helmets for children by the case lot.
The price is $24.00 per case of 24 helmets. That’s right, just $1 piece to supply fire helmets for the whole family. CLICK HERE for more information and to order yours.
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Dollar Store Updates is a regular feature of Firegeezer. Catch up on previous reports HERE.
KAKE-TV CH. 10, WICHITA, KANSAS, REPORTED on Tuesday November 16:
Around 8:30 this morning, an employee of a business in the 2500 block of S. Southeast Drive found what appeared to be a grenade in the alley between the Dollar General store and the Sara Lee bakery.
Upon arrival, Wichita Police reported that the device appeared to be an altered or modified grenade with a wire sticking out of it and called the bomb squad.
Shortly before 10, the bomb squad took the device to the bomb range to detonate it.
Wichita Dollar General store on S. Southeast Dr.
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ALSO ON TUESDAY IN KANSAS, AN ELDERLY WOMAN accidentally drove her car through the front wall and door of a Dollar General store in Emporia. The Emporia Gazette tells:
Gazette photographer Matt Bristow reported from the scene that the car was completely inside the store and had taken out some of the cinder block wall and glass doors.
No one was hurt in the accident.
Emporia Gazette
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A 2-ALARM FIRE IN THE WEST SIDE OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, last Friday completely burned out a Dollar General store, leading to a roof collapse.
Fire crews were there for about six hours on Friday and brought in heavy machinery to break through the metal siding and the roof to make sure the fire was completely out.
It grew into a two-alarm situation, but the fire was difficult to put out because of the store’s inventory that turned into what firefighters call a heavy fuel load. ”The Dollar General store was already stocked up for Christmas and had their decorations out; so yes, it was plenty of combustibles in there to heat up that steel,” Houston Fire Department District Fire Chief Roy Hamm said.
No one was injured and the only three people inside the store escaped safely.
No one was injured and the only three people inside the store escaped safely.
KTRK-TV Ch. 13 also filed this video report:
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Dollar Store Updates are a regular feature on Firegeezer. You can review previous reports HERE.
IN THE EARLY HOURS OF OCTOBER 7, THE MIAMI-DADE Fire Rescue Department was called out to the Family Dollar store on 94th Street. When they arrived on the scene they found heavy smoke coming from the store.
After cutting through the burglar bars on the doors, they were able to get inside and put the fire out. No other information was released on the fire.
CLARK COUNTY, WASHINGTON, FIREFIGHTERS RESPONDED to the Dollar Tree store parking lot on October 18 for a car fire. They found a custom kit car burning at the rear end and put the fire out in just a few minutes.
Clark County Fire District #6 photo
The car was a 1964 Volkswagon that had a fiberglas kit body that looked like a classic MG sports car. The 78-yr.-old owner said that he had just installed a new electric fuel pump on it and that is the area where the fire was centered. He said that he had owned the car since 1978 and installed the kit body himself.
The Columbian quotes him:
Howell, who was driving the car, said the MG had sentimental value. “I had an MG TD in the Navy,” said the retired personnel manager for Boeing in Portland.
He said he thinks the car might have been worth $18,000. “I will salvage a lot of parts,” he said. “That car will never be on the road again as a car.”
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA, FIREFIGHTERS were called out to the Family Dollar store in Rosebud Plaza Tuesday night, October 26, when smoke was spotted coming from the roof.
Dink Love was coming out of another store, and saw smoke pouring out of the roof of the Family Dollar store. He ran inside to alert employees and firefighters.
“I was coming out of Rite-Aid and I was standing out there and I smelled smoke, and I looked up the road there by the dollar store and I realized there was smoke coming out of the ceiling, so I went in to the dollar store and asked the ladies in there, told them that I think your guys’ building is on fire,” Love said.
Firefighters were on the scene at 8:45 and found only smoke in the roof area. Clarksburg Fire Inspector Danny Hamrick believes that the fire was smoldering for a few hours before the smoke was noticed.
It originally appeared to be an electrical fire, but Hamrick ruled that out although a definite cause can’t be made. There was no damage to any of the stores and power was restored to the Family Dollar and two other stores the next day. WDTV Ch. 5 posted this video report:
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IN TORONTO, ONTARIO, A 2-alarm fire ignited just before 4 a.m. Thursday October 14 at a dollar store at 101 Danforth Ave., near Broadview Ave., and spread to two other businesses.
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IN VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA, A HOMELESS MAN who was confined to a wheelchair was found on fire in the parking lot behind the Family Dollar store in Ormond Beach on October 19. A Beach Patrol officer saw smoke coming from behind the store around 5 pm and went to investigate where he found the wheelchair burning with the man in it and a growing grass fire nearby. After pulling the victim off the chair he called for the ambulance and then began giving him aid.
The Ormand Beach FD was already en route to that location responding to the grass fire that was later determined to have been accidentally started by the vicitm when he tossed a cigarette butt away.
The ambulance took him to the hospital and he was later transferred to a burn unit in critical condition.
A FAMILY DOLLAR STORE IN EAST POINT, GEORGIA, burned down Wednesday morning. Police say it was an arson and the surveillance tapes show two men breaking out the front glass and lighting, then throwing “multiple” Molotov cocktails into the store.
WSB-TV
Despite the intensity of the fire, the firefighters were able to contain the fire to the Family Dollar store and prevent it from spreading to an adjoining super market. The other stores in the shopping center received some smoke and water damages.
Atlanta Journal Constitution
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A DOLLAR GENERAL STORE IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, was severely damaged by a fire in the early morning hours of August 30. Police say that the fire was intentionally set by burglars who were attempting to hide their crime. The PD is not saying why they have determined that.
The fire was discovered in a storage area in the rear of the store and it was burned out. The fire had extended into the front of the store, but did not destroy the entire shop. The fire was knocked down by the 45 firefighters in about an hour and a half.
WREG-TV has this video report on the fire:
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THE DOLLAR TREE STORE IN WATCHUNG, NEW JERSEY, was slapped with a $56,000 fine by OSHA for violations of fire and workplace safety regulations. The OSHA inspectors began investigating the store in July and were cited for failing to properly stack, block, interlock or limit the height of stored materials. They were also cited for two serious violations with a penalty of $6,000 for failing to cover exposed electrical outlets, and failing to keep storage areas free of tripping and fire hazards. OSHA issues a serious citation when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.
The Central Jersey Courier News has the full story and details HERE.
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A MAN WITH A HISTORY OF DRIVING PROBLEMS drove his car through the front windows of a Family Dollar store in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Thursday morning. Police say that Brian Ross, 28, was high after ”huffing” from an aerosol can of computer keyboard cleaner when he crashed into the store at 7:30 am.
Drive-through shopper Brian Ross
In an interview with a WTAE-TV reporter, Ross explained what happened:
“I was looking down. I looked down for a minute. I thought my car was stopped, and I looked up, and the next thing I know, I ran into the building,” he said.
“Once I realized I wrecked, I got out and gave the owner of the store my car keys, because he didn’t want me leaving or going nowhere,” Ross said. “But then, when I seen the cops, I realized I didn’t have a driver’s license so I freaked out and I ran.”
The police also “seen” Ross running and chased him down. They found the can in the back of his car and charged him with driving under a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence. WTAE-TV filed this video report:
A WAREHOUSE FOR A WHOLESALE SUPPLIER OF DOLLAR STORES burned down early Wednesday morning in Houston, Texas. The massive blaze spread to an adjoining strip mall and destroyed several small businesses with it.
KIAH-TV Ch. 39 posted this video report:
Arson investigators are combing the debris to find the probable cause. The fire was discovered by a passer-by around 5 am and the 3-alarm fire needed more than three hours to be knocked down. One FF had a minor injury. The entire warehouse was gutted.
A 2-ALARM FIRE IN A BOISE, IDAHO, SHOPPING CENTER burned out a restaurant damaged a Family Dollar Store and a thrift shop. All of the businesses shared a common attic space.
KTVB
The fire started shortly after 5:30 am and was quickly upgraded to a second. No cause has been determined yet.
A SUNBURY, PENNSYLVANIA, TEENAGER WAS ARRESTED Monday after he was caught trying to start a fire on the roof of a Dollar General Store during business hours. Tyler William Hendricks, 19, is being held in the county jail on $100,000 bond after being charged with arson endangering persons, arson, risking catastrophe and criminal trespass, all felonies; and reckless endangerment, simple assault, and resisting arrest, all misdemeanors.
Hendricks
Three juveniles who were with Hendricks all told the police that it was him that tried twice to ignite a board on the roof using a lighter and a can of charcoal lighter fluid. City police officer Stephen Bennick said the three juveniles stated that Hendricks started a fire. The Sunbury Fire Department was dispatched to the roof and discovered a charred wooden board, a red and black lighter and 32- ounce container of charcoal lighter fluid.
Bennick continued, “On the roof, Hendricks knocked out a board from a railing, soaked it with lighter fluid and used the lighter that was provided (by the other youth). After lighting the board, Hendricks threw the lighter fluid (to) an upper roof.
THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE IN SOUTHPORT, NEW YORK near Elmira, had a fire Wednesday night when the sign on the front of the building erupted in flames around 8:45 pm. All customers and employees were evacuated safely. WETM-TV Ch. 18 has this video report:
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A FIRE IN DOWNTOWN RICHLAND, MISSOURI, Monday completely destroyed the Big Dollar Store as the roof collapsed and the back wall came down. When the FD arrived on the scene they found the building filled with smoke, but no fire evident. After opening up the back door they found the fire seated in the attic. The roof had 3 inches of tarpaper on it that fed the fire and heavily involved the entire roof structure.
Pulaski County Daily
Neighboring fire departments sent units to assist with a total of 50 firefighters at the incident.
THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE in Grafton, North Dakota, burned out on June 21. Four volunteer fire departments attended the blaze and had it extinguished in two hours.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN, FIRE UNITS ARE STILL on the scene of an explosion that destroyed most of a strip mall around 3 am Tuesday morning on E. Seven Mile Rd.
The explosion was apparently centered in a hardware store and brought the roof down, collapsing the entire store into the basement. The shopping strip housed five businesses including a dollar store, and an auto parts store. The incident was elevated to two alarms and was fought with exterior master streams due to the instability of the entire shopping center.
WXYZ-TV has some early video that shows up following the weather report:
Arson investigators are on the scene now along with the haz-mat team. No other information has been released yet.
The Dollar Store Conspiracy Club grudgingly commends the arsonist for his deceptive practice of destroying the dollar store by blowing up the neighboring business, thus deflecting any investigation efforts away from the true motive.
A DOLLAR GENERAL STORE IN COLUMBUS, OHIO, had a complete burnout Saturday morning while it was open for business. The fire is considered to be suspicious.
WBNS-TV
The fire was first noticed at 10 am. “I saw a flash of light at the top of the ceiling in the back,” employee Miranda Harris told WBNS-TV. “It was orange, so I just asked my boss, ‘Is there a fire back there?’” There was indeed a fire “back there” and all the employees and customers evacuated promptly and safely.
The Columbus FD arrived and successfully contained the fire to the store itself. The extent of the flames endangered the roof trusses early on and the FF’s had to pull back outside. The loss is expected to be from a half- to one-million dollars. A surveillance camera shows a man entering the store just minutes before the fire started and the fire marshal is interested in locating him.
This video report from WCMH-TV shows the surveillance tape along with a good report on the fire:
A DOLLAR GENERAL STORE IN WEST POINT, MISSISSIPPI, burned down Thursday night along with the business next to it. The fire broke out around 7:30 pm while the store was open and customers were inside. The Columbus Dispatch reports:
Robin Pace, manager of the Dollar General, reportedly asked another employee if they smelled cigarette smoke approximately 15 minutes before a customer approached the front of the store and said “Your store’s on fire.” She looked back and could see the flames so she evacuated the store.
Unfortunately, Pace left her own car keys in the store and part of the store’s roof fell on her car.
When the West Point FD arrived on the scene there was already fire showing at the shop. They initiated an interior attack, but after 30 minutes they had to withdraw before the roof came in. The fire was out at 1:45 am and the building was a total loss.
* Fire broke out at the Family Dollar store in Shirley, New York (Long Island), on April 26. Reports say that sparks “dropped down from the ceiling” and set a rack of clothing on fire, sending smoke throughout the shopping center it was located in.
The Mastic Fire Department responded aided by seven other FD’s.
IN MUNCIE, INDIANA, A DOLLAR GENERAL STORE that had been closed after going into receivership experienced a major fire Monday morning. The Muncie Star-Pressreported:
Muncie Fire Battalion Chief Jim Clevenger said the wares and cardboard boxes inside the storefront at 3040 N. Granville Ave. provided a “heavy fire load.” Clevenger said the storefront, part of a strip mall, no longer operates under the Dollar General brand, but a business there appears to be liquidating what remained of the Dollar General inventory.
Firefighters prevented the fire from spreading to the remaining four or five storefronts in the strip mall. “The guys just made a tremendous stop on this fire,” Clevenger said.
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THE VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, FIRE & RESCUE Dept. is on the scene this morning where they have put out a fire at the Baba Dollar store. WAVY-TV Ch. 10 Norfolk has the early video report:
Some Dollar Store fire-related stories in the news lately:
* THE MAN WHO WAS indicted last month for setting a fire in a Rochester, New York, Family Dollar store last November that burned down an entire shopping center, was charged Friday with setting another fire 20 minutes earlier that day in another Family Dollar store a few blocks away (see the Firegeezer report on the fires HERE.)
Rondell Flowers, 40, was charged with two felony counts of 2nd-degree arson. It was learned this morning that Flowers had once been an employee at another Family Dollar store, but was not at the time of the arsons. He is schduled to be arraigned this Wednesday.
Hat tip to Harry H.
* IN DeRIDDER, LOUISIANA, THE LOCAL Family Dollar store had an electrical fire on January 24 for the second time in five months. Last week’s fire was contained to a faulty plug to a freezer and was effectively put out when an employee pulled the plug from the outlet.
This past August 19 the same store had an electrical fire that burned out a large part of the business. Read the details HERE.
* A DOLLAR STORE IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN, suffered extensive damage early this morning (Thursday) when a suspicious fire raced through it shortly after 4 am. The Detroit Free Press is reporting:
Witnesses told investigators they saw smoke coming from the store at 20320 Schoolcraft, west of Evergreen near I-96, just after a car sped off at 4:24 a.m., according to the Detroit Fire Department.
The witnesses had seen people loading items into the car from the closed store before the fire, according to investigators. The fire damaged thousands of dollars of merchandise in the store as well as the building. No one was injured.
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A MAJOR FIRE IN DOWNTOWN CLINTON, ONTARIO, on Tuesday January 12, started in a Salvation Army food bank and spread to several other business including a Dollar Store that suffered fire and smoke damages. The entire city block was involved in the fire.
A ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, GRAND JURY INDICTED a man who was arrested and charged last week with setting a Family Dollar store on fire back in November that caused more than a million dollars worth of damage to a shopping center (see Firegeezer story HERE). The 40-yr.-old career criminal is alleged to have set the fire to created a diversion so that he could steal money from a cash drawer.
WHAM-TV Ch. 13 has this video report on last week’s arrest:
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* A FIRE AT THE DOLLAR DEPOT STORE in downtown Hobart, Oklahoma, on Saturday December 29, completely gutted the building and caused significant damage to the business on each side of the store.
Democrat-Chief photo
The row of 100-yr.-old buildings has firewalls between most of the structures and that is being credited with saving the entire block from destruction. Over 12 neighboring fire departments responded to provide mutual-aid to the Hobart FD. The fire began around 4 pm and it is unknown what caused it. Source: The Oklahoman.
THE FIRE THAT DESTROYED THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE in Rochester, New York, Monday burned out 3/4 of the entire shopping plaza and the remainder might have to be demolished also. The FD estimates that damages will exceed $2 million at the 50-yr.-old shopping center that was built without a sprinkler system.
The ATF –Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives– was brought in Tuesday to investigate the connections between the Goodman fire, the North Clinton fire, and a fire at a store in Buffalo that occurred in October. (emphasis added by Firegeezer.)
The entire area has been secured by the RPD as investigators are just beginning their work. They are also combing throught security camera tapes from the parking lot and neighboring businesses.
Fire Chief held this impromptu press conference Monday as the fire was still in progress:
TODAY IT’S THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE CHAIN that is taking the hit with two stores in Rochester, New York, believed to be torched, each of them within 30 minutes of each other. The first fire was reported in the Family Dollar store on N. Goodman St. at 11:39 am. The fire was believed to be set, but was relatively small and easily handled by the first-alarm units.
Democrat and Chronicle
About 20 minutes later, shortly after noon, fire was reported at another Family Dollar store less than 3 miles away on N. Clinton Ave. The second fire had a more advanced stage when it was discovered and when the FD arrived it was well-involved. By 12:30 it had been upgraded to a 4th-alarm occupying 15 RFD companies and 2 suburban departments.
WHAM-TV / Deitsch
The Clinton Ave. store is located in a major shopping plaza and the fire spread to several other stores including a pizzeria and the Fireball Wireless cellphone store.
Rochester Fire Lt. Willie Jackson said authorities have notified all local Family Dollar stores that “there may be a problem.”
Around 12:15 p.m., 911 dispatchers broadcast a “special attention” call throughout the county for police agencies to be on the lookout for an apparent arsonist striking Family Dollar stores.
At 2 pm the fire was still out of control and spreading to other stores.
Democrat and Chronicle
The Democrat and Chronicle also filed this video report from the Clinton Ave. fire:
TWO MORE MAJOR FIRES IN DOLLAR STORES OCCURRED THURSDAY NIGHT.
BUFFALO, NEW YORK FIREFIGHTERS responded to a Family Dollar store shortly before 6 pm Thursday where they found heavy smoke and fire conditions. A second alarm was struck immediately for the store which was open for business at the time of the alarm.
The fire caused over $300,000 in damages. WNLO-TV Ch. 23 filed this video report:
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A FIRE IN PARKER, SOUTH DAKOTA, has completely destroyed a downtown building housing the Dakota Dollar Store. The fire broke out about 5:30 pm Central time and brought in 12 neighboring fire departments to assist the Parker FD. Despite a fast start and the heavy involvement, the fire crews did a good job of containing the fire to the building of origin.
The Argus Leader reports:
“It was bizarre,” said Parker Fire chief Bob Masters. “I live three blocks from here and the fire station is right up the street there and by the time I got to the station, you couldn’t see down Main Street, what with all the heavy smoke.”
Witnesses said by 6 p.m., flames could be seen shooting from the roof of Dakota Dollar. The blaze was under control by 9:30 p.m. So much water was needed to fight the fire that tanker trucks from surrounding communities were needed to fill temporary reservoirs set up on the street. Firefighters were never in danger of running out, Masters said.
Argus Leader photo by Shane Merrill
The shop’s owner had just locked up and left the store 20 minutes before.
A DOLLAR GENERAL STORE IN WICHITA, KANSAS, SUFFERED A COMPLETE BURNOUT Wednesday afternoon in the west side of the city. The fire started around 5:30 pm when there were two employees and several customers inside. They all made it out safely as the fire deparment was arriving to find heavy smoke coming from the store.
The entire contents of the store was destroyed in the 2-alarm blaze. Investigators are still working the scene this morning. Firegeezer will update when any further information is released.
First thing, a couple of notes about yesterday’s chat of the dollar stores (HERE). One of our readers left a comment that he’d worked one of the A&P fires and affirmed that his dept. was unaware of the ongoing problems with organized crime. I’ll add that the A&P not far from where I live had a full burnout around that same time, too. Of course, there was no connection known with the other events. But they sure did the job on it. The entire store was completely destroyed and A&P simply relocated to a newer and larger site to reopen.
Another reader, Hank H., is from Chicago and he immediately recalled that dollar store warehouse fire on Knox St. a couple of years ago. He sent along a link to a good photo gallery that has 108 images of that fire. The photographer’s name is Scott Miller and he’s obviously done this before. Take a look at his photos HERE. Hank tells that there were 10 aerial streams in service.
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Here’s a little “heads-up” for you about the Firegeezer website. We have a New Look arriving soon. It’s time for us to freshen up a bit and we’ll be arriving on your monitor with a new design. Along with our fresh appearance we’ll be including some new features and expanding our scope a little bit. I’m sure that you’ll enjoy our new offerings that we’ll be posting along with our usual quirky content that makes us a little different from the others.
And coupled with this new presentation, we have a surprise included that I’m very excited about. But it has to be kept under wraps for now until the new Firegeezer hits the web in about a week. I’m pumped about it and I hope you’ll have as much fun with it as I do.
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It’s time for the Annual Stop-Drop-n-Roll Chili Cook-off held in Grapevine, Texas, home of the Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport. Coming up on October 24, this big-time annual event (everything in Texas is big-time) is put on by the WPI Firefighters Fund which is a charitable organization that assists families of injured firefighters and provides help in securing equipment for volunteer fire departments in Texas.
You read that right, admission is free. But I don’t think the beer is, though. This is more than just a chili-eatin’ party. It’s a great festival with live music and lots of entertainment for the entire family. Click on to the Cook-off webpage HERE to learn more and be sure that you check out the WPIFF’s website HERE to learn more about their great charitable work.
OK, it’s time for us to do some great work now. So let’s get this equipment checked out and I’ll go start the coffee. See you back in the day room.
Were you able to watch any of the National Fallen Firefighter memorial services over the weekend? At least I hope you were able to view the lead-in program that was shown each day. It was an excellent background report on the memorial in Emmitsburg and how it has been such a successful focal point for the families of the firefighters who have perished on the job. It was a great production, and I want to thank WUSA-TV once again for permitting us to carry the live-stream programming on our website here.
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Some people have been commenting and asking about my “dollar store” updates and wondering just what’s up with that? So let me take a few minutes and explain why I have been watching these things. It has been quite a few months now since I noticed that an unusually high number of fires had been occuring in so-called dollar stores and almost all of them have been arsons or “undetermined” causes. Naturally, there were some exceptions. Another thing that I noticed was that they weren’t concentrated on one specific corporate chain. There are about 3 major chains as well as hundreds of local mom-and-pop stores that sell that type of merchandise. I didn’t have any theories about what was going on, I was just curious and observant about it.
Then one day my sub-conscious data bank sent a message up to the frontal lobes reminding me about a fire that we reported on last year in May, 2007, that involved a very large warehouse in Chicago (STORY HERE).
It was a 4-alarm affair that gutted the huge facility that was a distribution center for a wholesale supplier of dollar stores. And that thought led me to recall a situation back in the mid-1970′s when there was an ongoing “war” between the A & P Grocery chain and the New Jersey mafia organization.
I can’t remember if it was a unionization battle or something to do with the supply chain, but I believe it was the latter. The mafia is very big on controlling services and supplies to profitable businesses. During this time, A & P was experiencing a string of major fires that were causing total burnouts of their stores. But it wasn’t blatant in that they weren’t happening frequently, nor in any particular geographic area. It was only happening once every few months and occurring in different states, fairly widely spread out. Keep in mind that this was before computers were used to store law enforcement information and not even close to network sharing of events and trends. There was no “trigger” to alert fire marshals and investigators to a pattern developing nationwide. And when an organized crime “torch” does his job, there isn’t anything left to indicate a cause. No gas chromatography in use then, nor any hydrocarbon-sniffing dogs.
But the A & P corporate management sure knew what was going on. They saw the results and were constantly getting the threats and warnings. But they resisted, refusing to sell their soul to the devil. When they refused to buckle under, the mafia raised the stakes and started murdering assistant store managers. They’d usually nail them when they were leaving after locking up the store at night. And that’s what broke the case open. Sacrificing a store is one thing, but having your own people murdered is a different matter altogether. This brought the FBI in after the company let them know what was happening and then it was only a matter of time before they moved in and closed down the murder ring.
Fast-forward to now. We start with a massive fire that upset the supply chain of products that are 99% imported from Asia. And anyone who works in an urban area knows that there really are organized Asian crime syndicates. In the last couple of years there has been a large expansion of so-called dollar stores nationwide. Of the many dollar store fires that we’ve seen every month, most of them arsons, (albeit many of them were started by juveniles), at least one or two of them every month have been total burnouts.
photo by Larry Shapiro
Now please don’t think of me as some sort of conspiracy nut. That’s not what I’m up to. But I am pointing out that the classic indicators of some sort of battle over the franchise to control a very lucrative business (supplying a rapidly-growing business) are there. All I’m asking is that you become aware of this possibility when you have a fire in one of these places. I know that there are a lot of fire marshals who read Firegeezer and I’m asking you to consider setting up some sort of information exchange to just see if there is any genuine pattern to these events. Now that everybody’s computerized and on the internet, this can be done without a whole lot of trouble.
Maybe I’m way out in left field here, I don’t know. What do you think?
Well, let’s come back to reality and get this equipment checked out now. I need to get some more coffee going. See you later in the day room.
FOR SEVERAL MONTHS NOW, FIREGEEZER HAS BEEN DOCUMENTING a continuing, and suspcious, trend of working fires at “dollar stores” nationwide. Here is our September update:
Lubbock, Texas, Sept. 12: Lubbock firefighters were faced with two major fires during the night of Sept. 11/12, both of which were labeled as arsons. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journalreports:
The second fire started about midnight in the Dollar General store in the 8800 block of Indiana Avenue. Nelson said fire marshals believe the fire was started intentionally and are investigating it as an arson. Nelson said the fire completely destroyed all of the merchandise in the store and caused extensive damage to the structure of the building in the Melonie Square Shopping Center.
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Itasca, Texas, Sept. 14:
The Hillsboro Reporter filed:
Firefighters from Itasca were called to the Dollar General Store on East Main Street in Itasca.
The initial 9-1-1 call was received by the Hill County Sheriff’s Office at 6:03 p.m. Monday, September 14.
According to Itasca Police Chief John Griscavage, clothes at the business were on fire. Rocky Brady used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, and the items were removed from the business by Sergeant Ted Walton. Damage was reported to the clothes and the ceiling where the fire started.
A juvenile believed to have been involved with the fire was located and transported to the police department. He was released to his family following processing, according to the chief.
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Muncie, Indiana, Sept. 16:
A fire broke out in the overhead sign of the Dollar General Store in the White River Plaza shopping center. It started in midday when the stores were open and patrons heard a loud “poof” sound that was followed with smoke and fire pouring out of the sign. Within moments, the fire extended into the roof of the dollar store.
Muncie Star Press
The collection of shops in the center were subdivided within a vacant supermarket building that was sprinklered. All of the fire damage was limited to the exterior, but inside the dollar store and an adjoining beauty parlor had smoke and water damage. Read the Muncie Star Press for MORE.
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Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sept. 30:
Two Tulsa police officers narrowly escaped a disaster Wednesday night while they were in a shopping center parking lot filling out reports. Seeing some movement, the watched a man on the roof of a dollar store toss a propane tank over the parapet to the pavement below. Then they saw a fire burning on the roof.
When the police and firefighters got up on the roof, they found a drunk and uncooperative man up there.
KRJH-TV has the video report:
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Chicago, Illinois, October 1:
In Chicago where everything is bigger, they’ve also logged in the largest dollar store fire of the past month. The Chicago Sun-Times briefly describes the incident:
About 6:50 a.m., (firefighters) responded to a fire in a dollar store at 3952 W. Cermak Rd., according to police. The Super Dollar & Up is listed at that location. The fire was elevated from a two-alarm fire to a three-alarm fire about 7:30 a.m., according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Quention Curtis.
The fire was contained to a L-shaped corner of a strip mall on the far west end of Cermak Road, which is propped near some older storeftonts that run north on Pulaski, according to Fire Media Affairs Chief Kevin MacGregor. Crews worked to keep the fire from spreading to stores that ran on other side of the strip mall. Firefighters were able to douse the flames by 8:10 a.m.
Local fire videographer Steve Redick was quick on the scene and recorded some excellent video of the fire:
A FAMILY DOLLAR STORE IN TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA, burned down Sunday afternoon. The fire began around 4:15 pm and spread rapidly. The FD found the building heavily involved on arrival.
There were two employees and three customers inside the store when the fire started, but they all were able to get out safely. The fire department says that the blaze is suspicious.
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