Sam’s Club in Gulfport reopens after small fire creates smoke in store
Sam’s Club in Gulfport was closed Friday while smoke from a fire inside a cooler was cleared so customers can resume shopping for their New Year’s celebrations.
Gulfport Fire Chief Billy Kelley said the department’s first unit was on the scene within four minutes of the call to dispatch.
He reported “heavy smoke in the entire building,” but said when he left shortly after noon, most of the smoke had been cleared.
The store reopened at 2:30 p.m.
The fire started inside one of the coolers containing freezer items, he said. Several wood pallets were inside the cooler and plastic on one of the pallets was sucked into the cooler fan, he said.
“It caught fire and burned that pallet and another one,” he said.
The fire was contained to that cooler, he said,
The store is expected to reopen this afternoon, Kelly said.
This story was originally published December 30, 2022 at 12:44 PM.
