GRAND CHUTE – Investigators say a fire in a Woodmans bathroom that led to the temporary evacuation Friday of the Grand Chute grocery store is considered suspicious.
According to a news release, the Grand Chute Fire Department was dispatched shortly after 4 p.m. Friday to Woodman’s Grocery Store for a report of a structure fire.
Outagamie County 911 Dispatchers reported that black smoke could be seen coming from a store bathroom, the store was being evacuated and that the fire alarm was sounding.
City of Appleton and Village of Fox Crossing Fire Department units also responded in accordance with automatic aid agreements in place.
When the first firefighters arrived less than four minutes from dispatch, they found moderate smoke and a small fire in one of the store bathrooms, which had been extinguished by the building’s automatic fire sprinkler system prior to the fire department’s arrival.
GCFD personnel assisted Woodman’s staff with shutting down the fire sprinkler system, water removal and ventilation.
GCFD remained on scene for approximately 90 minutes.
As a result of a properly functioning and maintained automatic fire sprinkler system in the building, the fire was confined to the bathroom and quickly extinguished.
The Woodman’s Grocery Store is back open open, and no damage estimates are available as of the time of the news release.
No civilian or responder injuries were reported.
The fire, which is considered to be suspicious in nature, is being jointly investigated by the Grand Chute Fire and Police Departments.
