NORTH BATTLEFORD — North Battleford's Mennonite Community Closet staff are feeling frustrated after finding a fire set by vandals outside the building destroyed many donations on April 19.
Manager Barb Rosendahl said she came to work on April 20 and noticed the debris and ashes left over from the fire.
"They burned actually quite a bit of stuff," she said. "I came to work and found there was like a fire pit and it had ashes all over it."
Rosendahl said staff notified police, the fire department and the city about the incident.
There is no surveillance camera at the back of the store so it is not known who set the fire.
"We've got to look into trying something different," Rosendahl said.
She hopes that some patrols can be made to the back of the building to increase security.
Rosendahl was aware that some bags of donations were dropped off outside in the back of the building on the weekend.
She is asking people to leave donations only on the weekdays during working hours, and to make sure they are brought inside.
"That's why we don't want any donations on the weekend," she said.
Rosendahl said the business has had problems with vandalism in the past but never encountered any fires before.
"The whole staff is a little annoyed," she said. "I'm upset that now they [vandals] are going to start burning things."
Rosendahl also noticed damage to the back door frame.
"They're trying to break in," she said. "They are chipping away at the side. They are trying to use some kind of pry bar. We noticed it this morning [April 20]."
