A fire in a store’s parking lot has killed one of the mother’s children and ‘permanent harm’ to the other, prompting the Minnesota mother to file a lawsuit against Walmart. On August 6, 2019, Essie McKenzie drove her daughters to Walmart Supercenter in Fridley, Minnesota, where they were fast asleep. According to court documents, McKenzie dropped her mother off at the airport, where the 6- and 9-year-olds were tired from being woken up early.
Fridley Walmart sued over parking safety policy by Minnesota mom
As it was early in the morning, around six o’clock, the mother decided to let them sleep while she took care of some errands, confident that they would be safe. The van was on fire when it returned to the parking lot shortly after, according to court records. She was being chased by rescuers as she ran towards the fire. She waited and watched the firefighters finally free the girls from the van. The flames had had an effect on them. The younger of the two suffered a heart attack, was resuscitated in the parking lot and then taken to hospital, where she later died. Her older sister survived with severe burns but was “permanently deformed”.
McKenzie’s attorneys accuse Walmart of having a well-known policy that allows people to camp overnight in store parking lots without keeping an eye out for those visitors to help keep other customers safe in the lawsuit, which was filed June 6. Walmart “encouraged and enabled an unsafe condition on its premises,” the lawsuit alleges. By not providing workers to oversee the proper use of its parking lot as a campsite, (Walmart) increased this risk. Investigators determined that a camping stove triggered the incident. According to records, a California man and his wife lived in their 2005 Dodge Caravan while traveling across the country. They decided to stop and move into the Fridley Walmart.
On November 16, 2021, in Richmond, California, shoppers can be seen walking through the parking lot of the Walmart store from above. With revenue of $140.53 billion, or $1.45 per share, against expert projections of $135.60 billion, or $1.40 per share, Walmart posted better third-quarter results provided that.
Reports say the man used a camp stove to cook breakfast on the morning of the incident. Without waiting for it to cool, he finished it and placed it in the back of their car. He then backed out of the parking lot and took a spot closer to the store entrance, next to McKenzie’s van. According to the documents, the camp stove inside the man’s car started a fire as he entered the store. His wife tried in vain to extinguish the flames. Their car caught fire and it quickly spread to McKenzie’s van, according to Newsweek.
According to Kare11, the man pleaded guilty to two counts of negligent arson causing grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to 120 days in jail and three years in 2020. McKenzie’s lawyers are now asking for at least 75 $000 in damages. Randy Hargrove, a spokesperson for Walmart, told McClatchy News that the retail giant “plans to defend the company and will respond to the complaint in court if necessary,” adding that “our thoughts are with friends and family affected by this sad even three years ago.
