Peachtree City Walmart reopens months after fire shuts it down

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga — A Walmart in Peachtree City reopened for the first time Wednesday in four months after a fire forced the store to close.

A video on Aug 24. showed customers running out of the store, trying to escape the flames.

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Channel 2′s Bryan Mims was in Fayette County at the store’s reopening ceremony on Channel 2 Action News This Morning. Shoppers, Peachtree City Mayor Kim Leonard and Walmart officials were all excited to be back in the store.

Within a week of the fire, a 14-year-old girl was charged with arson. Police say she confessed to using a lighter to set a piece of paper on fire. Tips and surveillance video led them to the teen.

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The store’s closure was a big loss for this community, and locals are excited to see it back open.

Local shoppers say this Walmart is an integral part of Peachtree City.

“I have family who works there. I have friends who work there. It is a pretty huge part of this community,” one shopper said. “It is kind of the teenage spot. if you didn’t have anywhere else to go, you go to the Walmart.”

The store is only partially reopened as not all sections of the store are ready to be opened.

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Peachtree City residents upset over empty lake State says the lake cannot be refilled until dam work is finished.

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