Police investigating fire in St. Jude Thaddeus Church

Havre police report that two juveniles started a fire in the basement of St. Jude Thaddeus Church Wednesday.

The juveniles found paper towels in the storage room the church uses for paper products. The juveniles started the fire away from anything combustible. No real damage was caused, said Capt. Aaron Witmer of Havre Police Department. 

Pastoral Minister Tim Maroney said he believes that it was an attempt at disrupting, not destroying.  

He also said that the church has had several problems with the same group of juveniles disrupting things in the church over the past six months.

The location of the fire was near the former location of Havre’s Helping Haven. That area is now used for some storage and the church plans to use it for students to play at recess during cold weather. There was smoke damage to the storage items in this location, said Maroney.