Fireworks lit off inside Walmart spark large fire

PHOENIX, Ariz. — An Arizona Walmart could be closed for up to a week, after someone lit off fireworks inside the store.

Phoenix's fire captain compared the fire it caused to a deadly one years ago.

“Somebody could have been killed inside that store with that fire growing as fast as it did and as bad as it could have gotten,” Captain Larry Subervi said.

Subervi has seen it with his own eyes.

In 2001, a suspect lit a fire inside a trash compactor that quickly spread to a grocery store where phoenix firefighter Bret Tarver was killed.

“One of our members lost his life in there, so when people don't always think in those terms. They think they will just start a little fire but the reality is, you just can't control it,” Subervi said.

Surveillance video shows two men walking out and looking back at the flames as they went.

If caught, they could face up to a class two felony, just below a murder charge.

“A prison sentence for this could be 20 years plus the fines that go on top of it... it can absolutely ruin someone's life,” Subervi said.

Cox Media Group