BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Someone wasn’t feeling the Christmas spirit when the decorations aisle at the Valley Plaza Mall Target was set on fire Wednesday night.
Employees say the alarm going off in the mall is not uncommon.
“I just assumed that maybe it was a robbery; I didn’t really think that it was going to be a fire,” said Soudavan Thor, a mall employee.
Ming Ave Target closed after fire set in Christmas aisle, BFD searches for suspect
“Then there’s like smoke everywhere, the smell was pretty bad too. Even this morning the smell stayed.”
The Bakersfield Fire Department is trying to identify a woman in a pink hoodie who was riding a silver mountain bike they believe is responsible for the fire. Leo Lopez has been coming to the Target at the Valley Plaza Mall for five years.
“Who would want to burn the Christmas aisle, let alone at Target!” said Leo Lopez.
Both say it’s not their first time experiencing disrupting activity here.
“You always hear stuff going on, like in the food court — kids always fighting,” said Lopez.