By Mike Hazlip—
Sacramento Metro Fire crews responded to another fire behind the Citrus Heights Walmart store last weekend, making for at least three fires behind the store over the past year.
Photos from the scene showed a plume of black smoke rising from the flames on Saturday, May 27. Crews quickly contained the fire that Metro Fire said involved about 100 pallets near the garden center area of the store at 7010 Auburn Blvd. No inquiries were reported, according to a post by Metro Fire on social media.
Battalion Chief Parker Wilbourn told The Sentinel in a phone call Thursday the incident is under investigation. Wilbourn said Metro Fire is aware of previous incidents in the same area, but could not confirm if they are related.
Citrus Heights Police Cpl. David Weissenfluh told The Sentinel in a phone call Thursday the incident is currently under investigation, and could not provide a cause. Police are reviewing video footage for possible leads, Weissenfluh said.
The May 27 incident is the third such fire in the same area. The Sentinel previously reported a Sept. 10 grass fire in an undeveloped area behind the same Walmart store.
The Sentinel reported Battalion Chief Mike Johnson said the Sept. 10 fire was “under investigation, but suspicious in nature at this time.” He confirmed a woman had reportedly been seen starting the fire, and said that report was the reason the fire was considered suspicious.
Several storage containers were also damaged in a July 18 fire last year. No injuries were reported and the cause of fire was not immediately known, according to a prior report by The Sentinel.
