Fire burns cardboard, pallets behind Walmart in southeast Fresno

Arson is suspected in a fire that burned cardboard boxes and pallets in an open storage unit behind the Walmart store in southeast Fresno, sending gray clouds of smoke airborne Friday afternoon.

The Fresno Fire Department is investigating the fire and has footage from a Walmart surveillance feed showing an unidentified person started the fire, Capt. Daniel Vasquez said.

He estimated the fire caused minimal damage.

Sales associates were evacuated to the parking lot and given water bottles while police officers blocked the store’s entrances on Kings Canyon Road.

This story was originally published July 22, 2016 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Fire burns cardboard, pallets behind Walmart in southeast Fresno."