Flare lit at Walmart Possible accident

A flare that went off at the Chardon Walmart on Nov. 22 may have gone off accidentally, Chardon Police Chief Scott Niehus said in an interview on Nov. 25.

A flare was lit at the Meadowlands Drive supercenter around 5 p.m. Friday, the Chardon Fire Department wrote in a Facebook post. Although one person was burned, transportation to the hospital was not necessary. Niehus later confirmed that the injury was minor.

The chief said police were dispatched at 5:02 p.m. and arrived on the scene shortly after.

“We believe it was an accident, but this is still under investigation,” he said, noting that the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office will still have to review the case with the possibility of criminal charges, but currently there are none.

“When the flare went off there was a big flash, which was then extinguished quite quickly,” he said. “I don’t believe this even activated the sprinkler system.”

The flare was fired in the sporting goods department, he said, adding that the person who fired the flare had been looking at an emergency flare intended for shipping.

“I know they picked it up to look at it and it reportedly went off,” he said. “After this happened, they hung around, they were cooperative with the officer, very apologetic. I don’t think they expected what happened to happen.”

The incident report did not include damage estimates, Niehus said.

“It looks like it was an emergency flare. And it looks like it’s bouncing off the (concrete) floor,” he said. “So it doesn’t appear to have caused significant damage.”

Although Walmart did not have to evacuate or close because of the incident, Niehus warned it could have been worse.

“This could have been a very close call. I mean, what happened there was, you know, obviously very serious,” he said.

When the flare was fired, the store was relatively busy, he added.

“We were lucky that no one was affected,” he said.