Three arsons temporarily close three Winnipeg Walmart stores

Three Winnipeg Walmart stores were closed Thursday night after three separate fires that police are calling arson.

All three fires were small and put out by hand-held fire extinguishers, said city of Winnipeg fire officials.

The first fire hit the Empress Avenue location at 6:07 p.m., and the second was the Regent Avenue location at 7:19 p.m. In both cases, firefighters helped douse the small fires.

The third fire happened at the McPhillips Street location, but that fire was already out when crews got there.

The Winnipeg police Major Crimes Unit is investigating all three fires as related arsons.

The Empress location was closed Friday morning, and no one picked up the phone at the other two locations.

Global News has reached out to Walmart for comment.

Walmart was recently in the news for being the first major department store chain to mandate masks for all customers and staff.