Crews battle fire at Walmart warehouse near Indianapolis

PLAINFIELD, Ind. (AP) — Crews were fighting a large fire Wednesday at a Walmart warehouse distribution center near Indianapolis that produced a smoke plume visible for miles around.

A caller alerted Hendricks County authorities just before noon about the fire at the Walmart Distribution Center in Plainfield, west of Indianapolis.

Plainfield firefighters arrived three minutes later to find the building fully engulfed in flames, and footage from television stations showed a towering plume of smoke rising from the burning building.

Joe Aldridge, deputy chief of Plainfield Police Department, said Walmart believes all 1,000 employees at the distribution center are accounted for and that they got out of the building safely.

Aldridge said no firefighters have been injured. He advised nearby residents to stay inside to avoid the smoke.

“It’s going to be difficult to contain this,” he said. “If you live in neighborhoods north of this facility, I’d say you should stay indoors and keep your windows and doors shut.”

Aldridge said Plainfield school buses were taking Walmart workers to a different location to be picked up.