Big 5 Sporting Goods expects to reopen in Santa Fe soon after weekend fire
Dec. 1—Big 5 Sporting Goods expects to reopen its Santa Fe store by the coming weekend after a fire early Saturday morning forced it to shut down.
Santa Fe police Deputy Chief Ben Valdez said a dumpster fire was ignited behind the store and then spread to the back of the Cerrillos Road building.
Officers responding to an alarm at the site around 3:50 a.m. Saturday found a man in the area and detained him on an unrelated warrant accusing him of failing to pay fines in a drug trafficking case from January.
So far, however, Valdez said, the 61-year-old man has not been named as a suspect in the fire, which is being investigated as arson.
The man told officers he had seen a hole in a wall of the store and wanted to take some shoes, Valdez said, adding the man claimed he was not aware of the fire.
The State Fire Marshal's Office is aiding in the arson investigation, Valdez said.
Ian Landgreen, Big 5's senior vice president of business affairs, said the fire did not reach the store's showroom.
"There was minor damage to the store and inventory," Landgreen said. "The bulk of the damage came from the fire sprinklers and the fire department entering the space. The sprinklers did not go off in the entire store, just certain isolated areas."
