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Manhole exploded at Mill Spring convenience store Tuesday

MILL SPRING—An explosion occurred at Deb’s Mini Mart in Mill Spring early Tuesday morning. 

Polk County Emergency Management Director Bobby Arledge said the call came in at 7:59 a.m. as an underground explosion. 

Officials discovered that there was a capacitor that went bad in a manhole and it caused a spark and lit the gas fumes in the manhole. 

Arledge said the explosion blew the manhole cover off. It burnt the fumes off and put itself out quickly so there was no fire. Arledge said it was a quick ball of fire that went out. 

The explosion was caused from the fumes inside the manhole. There was no damage to the gas pumps, Arledge said. 

A crew for the gas pumps was on scene Tuesday morning, with Arledge saying they will fix the capacitor. Deb’s could likely be reopened later Tuesday afternoon. 

Arledge said the manager of Deb’s cut off the pumps immediately and did all the right things to prevent any other issues. 

The Mill Spring Fire Department, the Columbus Fire Department, the Green Creek Fire Department and Polk County Emergency Management responded to the scene. 

Deb’s is located at the corner of Highways 108 and 9 in Mill Spring.