A suspect allegedly set fire to toilet paper in Aisle 11 at the Northwest Minot Marketplace Foods store Sunday evening, said Zac Miller, senior store director for the west region.

“We ended up losing a little bit of product but my staff caught it and had it out in three minutes,” said Miller.

Miller said he is extremely proud of his staff, who reacted so quickly and prevented anyone from getting hurt as well as serious damage. Miller said it’s “mind-blowing” that someone would do such a thing as start a fire.

The fire, which happened at 7:27 p.m., was out by 7:30 p.m. When fire crews arrived on scene, they were told the fire had been put out but was still smoldering. Firefighters used fire extinguishers to put out the fire and remained on the scene to ventilate the structure.

Miller said the staff served the customers who were still in the store and the business was then closed at 8:15 p.m. The First District Health Unit cleared the store to re-open for business on Monday morning.

Miller said the store has turned over security footage to the Minot Police Department from the relevant timeframe after an investigation by the fire department revealed that someone had started the fire.

No arrests had been announced as of Monday afternoon.

Miller said insurance will cover the damage. He did not give a cost estimate for the amount of damage done.

The store is located at 2211 16th St. NW.