Nashville fire investigators are turning to the public for help identifying a man they say deliberately started a fire inside a Walmart Supercenter on Dickerson Pike last month.
The Nashville Fire Department says crews responded to the store around 10:33 a.m. on June 26 after receiving reports of a fire burning in a trash receptacle located in one of the store’s aisles. Surveillance footage reviewed afterward shows a man entering the Walmart roughly 40 minutes earlier, at about 9:53 a.m., before picking up a bottle of lighter fluid and collecting other items from around the store, including material described as clothing.
Investigators say the man is believed to have stuffed that clothing material into a trash receptacle, set it on fire and then walked out of the store without buying anything.
The fire didn’t go unnoticed. Shoppers inside the Walmart spotted the flames and pushed the burning trash receptacle away from nearby merchandise, likely preventing the fire from spreading further. Store employees then put the fire out using a fire extinguisher, and no one was hurt during the incident, according to the fire department. Firefighters arrived after the flames had already been extinguished.
Investigators describe the suspect as a slender Black man believed to be between 21 and 35 years old with short dreadlocks. At the time of the incident, he was wearing an orange shirt, khaki pants and white shoes.
The Nashville Fire Department has released surveillance images from inside the store as it works to identify the man. Anyone who recognizes him or has information related to the investigation is asked to contact the department’s Fire Investigations Unit at 615-207-4212.