A massive fire in a Walmart in George caused a partial roof collapse, sending shoppers fleeing for the exits.
Video of the incident showed panicked shoppers leaving the Peachtree City, Georgia store Wednesday evening as a large plume of dark smoke rose above the building
The fire began at 7:20 p.m. on Wednesday and led to “structural members” from the roof collapsing on fire crews, Fox5 Atlanta reported.
"While fighting the fire with a large amount of water, they report the structural members from the roof began to collapse on them, so the decision was made to back out and the incident commander made the decision to go defensive and fight the fire from the outside of the building," Peachtree City Fire Department Assistant Chief Will Harbin told the news outlet.
The cause of the fire is being investigated but may have begun when a rack of clothes caught on fire.
First responders encountered so much smoke at the scene that some had to be hospitalized, including three police officers. There were no other reports of injuries.