Fire Destroys Popular Country Store

A large fire destroyed J.R.'s Country Store Thursday night. The store is located on Green Path Road near the Johnston-Sampson county line. A kerosene tank exploded just as the first fire engine was arriving at the scene, and a nearby mobile home and car were damaged by the intense heat. The business was owned by William Junior Johnson, but the building was owned by Marie Holmes, 78, and her family, who built the store in 1957. When Marie's husband, J.T. Holmes, died in 1998, she began leasing out the building. Marie's grandson, Landon Holmes, noticed a dark-colored, four-door car parked outside the store Thursday night just before midnight. About a half hour later, he received a call that the store was on fire. Landon said he didn't think anything about the car parked out front at first, because people sometimes used the store as a meeting place. However, he now thinks the car and the fire are related. The Sampson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the fire, but officers won’t say if they suspect arson.