ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Donated items intended to help others were destroyed when a fire broke out at a Goodwill thrift store on Metropolitan Parkway in southwest Atlanta late Thursday night.

The fire started around 10:30 p.m., destroying one storage trailer parked against the building and badly damaging another. Kids’ clothing and toys, kitchen appliances and dozens of donated items were lost.

“It’s sad because people donate to help other people out. So, with it being destroyed, it is devastating,” shopper Yolanda Etheridge said.

The Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department quickly extinguished the fire. The store was closed when the fire happened, and no one was hurt.

A Goodwill representative said the building suffered only cosmetic damage, but many donated items were lost.

“The sale of those donated items allows for us to serve our mission to put people to work,” said Trenise Lyons, director of communications and customer engagement at Goodwill of North Georgia.

The loss also affects families struggling to make ends meet as the cost of everyday goods soars.

“A lot of people are bargain shopping. I’m coming looking for a formal dress. And hopefully I find it,” Etheridge said.

The doors to the Goodwill thrift store are open on Friday afternoon. Investigators are working to determine what started the fire, and crews have started removing the trailers.

This is the third fire in three years at a metro Atlanta Goodwill. The other two were at a Piedmont location. Goodwill does not believe the fires are related.

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