According to Deb Bowman, the fire at the dime store occurred on a cold night when most of the town was at a basketball game. There was a worker who was trying to unfreeze the pipes by using a blow torch. Unfortunately, this started a fire that burned down the entire building. They had to call in fire trucks from all the surrounding towns to help put out the fire. “There is a diamond ring lost somewhere in that building because they never found it” (Bowman).
The old dime store was purchased by Peter Pan, and what was left of the building was razed (Williams). Peter Pan decided the location was perfect for a Dollar General, and hired Ace Construction to begin the process (“The Making of Dollar General”).