Plainfield’s Walmart fire report findings to educate surrounding agencies

PLAINFIELD, Ind. — Almost three years later, questions still remain about how a fire at a Walmart warehouse in Plainfield was able to spread and consume the building.

Now, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation has released a report on the blaze.

According to previous reports, a fire broke out on the second floor of the facility just before noon on March 16th, 2022. Local first responders said they had never seen a blaze of that magnitude before.

“Anyone in central Indiana could see this fire,” said Jared McKee, the executive director of Plainfield Public Safety. “I walked outside, and just all you could see was this giant plume of black smoke.”

The report said firefighters believed the fire was under control within minutes of their arrival, but after they shut down the sprinkler system, the fire came back and spread out of control.

All employees made it out alive, along with all 400 firefighters. However, the building was completely destroyed.

“Afterwards, our fire chief was very interested in not only how they did, but how can we do better in the future?,” said McKee.

Plainfield Fire Chief Brent Anderson reached out to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and asked them to conduct a third-party investigation, which included interviews with first responders for hours.  

The report cites difficulties locating valves to turn off sprinklers, trailers blocking loading docks when crews were trying to ventilate, combustibles in the building and an ineffective fire wall.

“It’s very much a city within four walls and so the more we understand those systems that are in there and the layout of the building, the more effective we’re going to be,” said McKee.

Now, changes could come to the construction of these large facilities, as well as changes to fire service protocols from this new report.

“If there is another large scale like this, we can be better at it, we can be prepared,” said Tim Griffin with the Carmel Fire Department.

Over 30 agencies from surrounding areas responded to assist, including Carmel firefighters. Their fire department said that they’ll likely be sitting down for some operational training based on the findings.

“Whether it’s Indiana, California, Florida or New York, we’re gonna look at this fire,” said Griffin. “They’re gonna look at this report, and they’re gonna be able to teach, learn and educate and get better, to not only save firefighter lives and property, but save those of the lives of citizens that we’re protecting.”

Despite the unusual challenges firefighters faced, the fire could have had a worse outcome.

“At the end of the day, our firefighters did exactly what they were trained to do, and that’s go in and save lives,” said McKee.

Due to the extent of the damage, the cause of the fire remains unknown to this day.