Neighboring Piggly Wiggly evacuated after electrical short in meat market
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 22, 2025 will be remembered by employees of the Piggly Wiggly store just across the Florida line from Atmore, as more than just a regular workday.
The store employees, along with about a dozen early shoppers, were evacuated from the building shortly before 9 a.m. after an electrical short in the store’s meat market created a scare and brought Atmore Fire Department personnel and a handful of Escambia County, Fla. volunteer firefighters to the scene.
“It turns out a receptacle shorted out in the meat department,” Atmore Fire Chief Ron Peebles said as he waited for a second set of city firemen to arrive with specialized equipment to make sure no further fire threat was evident. “When it shorted out, it tripped the breakers and shut the power down, so it did just what it was supposed to do.”
Atmore’s ladder truck was first dispatched but returned to the station after a preliminary assessment of the situation. The second firefighter team arrived with thermal imaging cameras to make sure there were no “hot spots” where flames or heat might be lurking.
Peebles said none were found, and the store’s business resumed as usual, even the meat market, before 9:30 a.m.
“We didn’t find any hot spots,” he said. “That receptacle was on its own breaker, so we concealed it and gave them the all-clear in the meat department. Piggly Wiggly’s maintenance people were on the way when we left.”
Judy Anderson and Roshaundra Bates, who both work at the store, said employees knew something was up but didn’t find out for sure just what until they were all safely outside.
“All we knew was that something had happened in the meat room, and we got called to the front,” said Anderson, while Bates said, “we didn’t know what was going on until we got out front.”