Courtenay Walmart closed after fire in infant clothing section

Courtenay Walmart closed after fire in infant clothing section

Published 9:40 am Monday, October 19, 2026

Courtenay’s Walmart Superstore is closed for an indeterminate amount of time following an October 16 incident where someone lit infant-wear on fire.

Ella Dyck and Jasper Petersen had just rung their items through the self-checkout when Dyck noticed flames shooting up towards the back of the store.

“We were just grabbing our groceries and I look over and was like that’s fire – that’s not supposed to be there. At first I thought I was seeing things” Dyck says.

The pair alerted a staff member.

“She then ran to the fire alarm and the alarm started going off and everyone started funnelling towards the doors fairly quickly and before we even were out of the store they had the overhead sprinkler going” Petersen says.

Courtenay Fire Chief Kurt MacDonald says crews were called to the store shortly after 7:15 p.m. and found the store filled with smoke which then had to be vented out using specialized fans. MacDonald says the incident was similar to a fire that happened in the same store in October of 2024.

“Different area of the store but very similar circumstances, a person came in with a lighter, lit some clothing on fire and then exited the building as the fire developed. The sprinkler system activated in both cases and yes, quite a considerable amount of smoke and water damage, plus the loss of product inside the store” MacDonald says.

RCMP were on the scene to investigate the blaze and to a similar event that had happened a few moments earlier at the Dollarama location in the 3100 block of Cliffe Avenue.

“While we were at this fire at Walmart we were notified that a similar event had taken place in Dollarama, basically some items inside the store had been lit in a similar fashion to the Walmart, fortunately staff and a quick-thinking shopper brought the item outside, stomped it out. Definitely no fire damage, just a little bit of smoke, definitely have a person of interest the RCMP are looking for” MacDonald says.

The chief couldn’t say if the two incidents were related or if the descriptions of the person(s) being sought were the same. MacDonald did praise the effort of staff involved.

“They did an excellent job of evacuating the building, they’ve did an excellent job of meeting our crews when we arrived and provided us with accurate real-time information as to what was going on inside the store from a fire perspective and it was definitely helpful and a great assist to us to get in there and deal with the situation” MacDonald says.

Cindy Black was another Walmart customer in the store when the fire was discovered and also praised the efforts of staff.

“The staff were pretty quick about moving everybody out really quickly but it was just amazing how fast (the fire) grew in that very short period of time. I went out, got in my car and when I was driving by the doors I looked in and it was thick smoke that fast” Black says.

She’s worried about what the staff members will face in the coming weeks.

“The shame of it is, is the employees are going to be out of work for some time probably” the says.

Petersen concurred about the loss, especially since this is a repeat of what happened two years ago.

“We were around when that one was happening, I remember it was in the clothing section and they had the whole had the store warped off for quite awhile. I remember the last time it happened they threw out quite a lot of merchandise that wasn’t able to be sold anymore and it was quite a waste” Petersen says.

Dyck and Petersen also noted that during the Friday night evacuation of the store some customers left with full carts or handfuls of items.

“Not like looting but yea, whatever they were holding” Petersen says.

Courtenay RCMP say a person of interest was arrested but has been released pending further investigation. They are waiting for surveillance footage to be provided from Walmart and Dollarama and they are continuing to look into the incidents.

They are asking any members of the public or anyone with dashcam footage to contact them.