HARAHAN, La. (AP) — A girl who appeared to be 6 to 9 years old started a fire that has closed a suburban New Orleans Walmart for repairs, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
The fire Monday night destroyed two aisles of merchandise and started the sprinkler system, causing storewide water damage at the store in Harahan, according to a sheriff's office news release posted on Twitter.
The child came in about 9 p.m. Monday with a woman and toddler, left them at some point and went into a restroom unsupervised, the statement said.
Just before 9:40 p.m., she got a cigarette lighter from a display near a register. She then set the fire in an area containing ladies’ fashion accessories, the news release said.
The sheriff’s office, which is working with the parish fire department and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said it does not expect criminal charges because of the child’s age.
But it asked for the public's help identifying the group “in an effort to speak with them about the incident.”
It posted a surveillance camera photo of the silver, four-door sedan in which they left and a photo of the fire. No injuries were reported.
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