Rochester Home Depot reopens after Thursday fire FR24 News English

(ABC 6 News) – Cleanup and investigations continue after a fire at the Rochester Home Depot Thursday evening. Statements from witnesses at the scene told ABC 6 that the fire was set intentionally, which was confirmed by Rochester police.

The fire broke out Thursday evening around 6 p.m. Rochester police said witnesses at the store saw a man walking around the store for a few hours, then crouching in the area where the fire started, just after trying to leave the store with a goods cart.

Related: UPDATE: Home Depot is hiring temporary workers to clean up after a fire

“It was a box in the lumberyard area that was on fire. RFD arrived on scene, we immediately pulled out a few hand lines and went in immediately. We saw some light smoke when we first arrived on our way out,” Spencer Klemm with the Rochester Fire Department told ABC 6.

Employees were able to arrest the man and one person was treated for smoke inhalation.

As investigators try to figure out what happened, temporary workers came to help clean the store.

“We would just take items off the shelves and pile them on the floor,” said Sandy Geiger, a temporary worker at Express Personnel.

“Clean the area where we took the products off the shelves, or the equipment, whatever it is. We would mop it, sweep it, then mop it and do the whole driveway.

ABC 6 reached out to Home Depot and was unable to get a response or contact a store manager.