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Sprinkler problem empties Walmart

Store was closed for about an hour Sunday

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Fort Dodge Fire Department Capt. Jeff Hill talks on his radio Sunday morning as firefighters deal with a sprinkler system problem at Walmart, 3036 First Ave. S. Hill said an employee hit a sprinkler head with a forklift. The store had to be closed.

A sprinkler head in a back room of the Fort Dodge Walmart store was broken Sunday morning, forcing dozens of customers and employees to evacuate. The store was closed for at least an hour.

The incident at 3036 First Ave. S. was incorrectly reported to authorities as a gas leak. It was reported at 10:40 a.m.

“We responded for a gas leak,” Fire Department Capt. Jeff Hill said. “When we got here, we found the sprinkler system activated, and we found there was no such gas leak.”

Within minutes of the sprawling store being evacuated, vehicles lined up as they waited to exit the parking lot. Police officers stopped other vehicles from entering the lot.

The store was open again as of 2 p.m.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Water flows from a drain in the rear wall of the Walmart store, 3036 First Ave. S., Sunday morning as the building’s sprinkler system is drained. The building’s sprinkler system had to be shut down and the store had to be evacuated after an employee hit a sprinkler head with a forklift.

Hill said an employee broke a sprinkler head in a stock room with a forklift, and that sprinkler head began spraying water. He said just that one sprinkler head activated.

He said that only sprinkler heads that are exposed to fire or are damaged will begin spraying water. A building’s entire sprinkler system will not go off at once.

Firefighters got on a stepladder and used a tool called sprinkler tongs to stop the water. Because the sprinkler head could not be replaced, the system in that part of the building had to be shut down. When it was shut down, water was discharged from a drain in the east wall of the building.

A sprinkler company will have to repair the damage.

Hill said a few pallets of merchandise got wet.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter
Employees and shoppers wait outside as firefighters deal with a sprinkler system problem at Walmart around 11 a.m. Sunday. The store was evacuated after officials say an employee hit a sprinkler head with a forklift. Audible fire alarms led some to wrongly suspect there had been a fire.

Because the system was shut down, additional precautions would have to be taken before the store could reopen for business. Hill said an employee will have to be assigned to fire watch duty. He said that worker’s only job would be walking through the store, looking for fires or emergencies.

Officials don’t know why the incident was reported as a gas leak. Hill said whoever called 911 told the dispatcher there was a gas leak.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter Fort Dodge Police Lt. Dennis Quinn keeps traffic from entering the Walmart parking lot Sunday morning as fire crews deal with the sprinkler system. Eventually all the lot’s entrances were blocked.

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