Emergency officials were dispatched to the Bolivar County Road Department Thursday afternoon in response to an explosion that left one inmate injured.

“We still don’t know what exactly happened,” said Road Manager David James. “It’s still under investigation.”

James said the inmate that was injured was transported to Bolivar Medical Center in Cleveland and later transported to the burn center in Memphis, Tenn.

Bolivar County Volunteer Fire Department Battalion I, Bolivar Sheriff Department and EMS all were on the scene.

“The explosion happened in the room where the pressure washer is housed,” said Chief Joe Phillips. “The room caught on fire. One of the inmates received third degree burns on his hands.

“It took us about 45 minutes to completely extinguish the fire,” he said. “There are walls on both sides of the room and the insulation was still burning. We had to tear into one of the walls.”

Bolivar County Administrator Will Hooker and EMA Director Bill Quinton were also at the scene of the explosion.

The Bolivar Commercial will report more on this story as information becomes available.

In other related news, members of Battalion I responded to search and rescue call this morning around 2:38 a.m.

“The incident occurred on (Miss.) Highway 8 (going towards) Ruleville,” said Phillips. “The driver of a vehicle ran off the road and flipped.”

Phillips said the driver was a member of the Drew Fire Department.

“He was trapped in the vehicle,” he said. “It was a one vehicle accident and the driver did sustain injuries. I was told that he received a broken leg.”

Phillips said his department has been very busy.

On Tuesday, the Bolivar County Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to Shaw in response to a grass fire located off U.S. Highway 61 that was caused by a farmer.

Also, the Cleveland Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire at 902 King Cove in Cleveland around 9:52 a.m. Thursday. The home was damaged heavily but no injuries were reported.