Fire destroys East Franklin store

East Franklin Fire Department keeps a watch on a convenience store in East Franklin that burned Monday night.

By Alison James for the FCT

At the intersection of Highway 81 and Highway 93, a community meeting spot burned Monday night.

East Franklin neighbors drove by throughout the morning Tuesday to see the smoldering convenience store. One of them was Marvin Ergle, who has lived in the community just about his whole life. He heard about the fire about 10:30 p.m. Monday night. His nephew drove by one his way home from work, took a picture and sent it to Ergle’s son, who sent it to Ergle.

“This is where everybody goes around this community,” Ergle said. “All these old folks’ benches,” he added, gesturing to the pile of blackened, smoking wood debris, “I don’t where they’re going to sit now. Some of them just come up here and sit all day long.”

Jason’s store, as it’s known in the community, was closed at the time the fire started. It was a popular spot in East Franklin to get a tank of gas or pick up a few groceries.

“It was a very important store to the community, and it’s going to be missed,” agreed Fire Chief Rodney Alexander. “It was a social gathering place at times.”

Officials with East Franklin Fire Department got the call about 9:30 p.m. from 9-1-1 dispatch. One firefighter who responded to the scene said it was already fully involved when they arrived. Stopping the flames took about three hours. Primarily, it was the wooden roof, atop the cinderblock building, that burned.

“We came back about 4 a.m. – we got called back out,” he said. “It picked back up a little bit.” Firefighters were still keeping an eye on the scene Tuesday morning.

Blue Springs Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the scene, and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department was on hand, as well.

Alexander thanked firefighters with his department for a job well done and also the Blue Springs department for their assistance.

The fire is under investigation with Fire Marshal Justin Green and the state fire marshal’s office.