Police believe that an angry consumer set the blazes on purpose, but have declined to provide a specific motive.
The mother, shopping in the enormous warehouse-like space, asserted to CBS-affiliate Wdbj7.com that she was alerted to the fiery fracas after a uniformed Walmart employee frantically pelted by her.
The curious mother, throwing caution to the winds, quickly whipped out her cell phone and began recording the nearby retail inferno.
"I was like: hang on, let me show the kids," the witness to the pyre of products stated, cited by WDBJ.
In the video, flames could be seen rising to the ceiling of the warehouse, thankfully prompting an attack of common sense that encouraged her to get out of the building.
The local fire marshal reported that two fires were set inside the store, and that the burns were not accidental.
"One was closer to the apparel and the other was on the other side, in the vacuum cleaners section," the fire marshal claimed.
A suspect — who does not work for the world's largest employer — was apprehended and has been questioned.
"Everyone made it out safe," the fire marshal noted.
In a news release, Walmart acknowledged the incendiary incident, and declared that the store would quickly reopen, although no specific time has been set.
No correlation between the destruction of vacuum cleaners and clothing by the arsonist was suggested.
