Brandon Franklin, with Servpro fire and water clean up, vacuums water and debris from the floor of the Salvation Army Family Store on Frontage Road Friday.

    A fire at The Salvation Army Family Store in Meridian triggered sprinklers that destroyed most of the store’s inventory, officials said.

    Officials with the agency that helps the underprivileged said they need the community’s help to recover from the loss.

    According to Salvation Army Corps Maj. Glenn Riggs, the fire broke out sometime between late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

    “The sprinkler is not monitored so we don’t know how long the sprinklers ran,” Riggs said. “We found the building with a couple of inches of water throughout. There was not much damage to the building because the sprinkler system contained it, but because of the water and the smoke it’s likely that all of the donations are ruined.”

    Riggs estimated that more than 30,000 items were potentially ruined from smoke and water damage, including clothes, electronics, furniture and books.

    “The problem is that our thrift store sells items to those who can afford it so that we are able to give items to those who cannot,” Riggs said. “It generates funds that support our social service efforts like giving out food to folks in the community.”

    Riggs said the fire appears to have started in the middle of the store where the cash register was located and that he was told that an electrical problem likely started the blaze.

    Riggs asked for help from the community to help the agency continue its mission.

    “We aren’t able to accept new donations because we don’t have a place to put them but once we reopen the store, we will need the community to be generous,” Riggs said. “We need monetary donations at this moment. That’s what will get us through this because we have expenses that are ongoing.”

    Riggs said monetary donations can be made at the The Salvation Army’s main office at 120 6th Ave., in Meridian, which is located at the corner of 6th Avenue and B Street.