Commissary officials in Twentynine Palms, California, have taken some stopgap measures to provide a few items for customers, but their store remains closed indefinitely as they deal with a rat problem.

Wednesday afternoon, officials began selling about 20 key items displayed outside the store. That service will continue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time each day until the store reopens, according to information from the Defense Commissary Agency.

Customers can also make special orders for products at the outdoor site, but those products must be among items that have already been inspected and cleaned within the store, officials said.

“We’re pulling every product off of every shelf and cleaning both the shelf and the product,” said Army Lt. Col. Alisa Wilma, DeCA’s director of public health and safety, in a news release. “Everything we can do to make this store ready for opening is being done to provide the commissary benefit in a safe, clean and pest-free environment for our Twentynine Palms patrons.”

Installation spokeswoman Marine Capt. Karen Anne Holliday confirmed the ”pests” are rats.

On Oct. 11, Maj. Gen. William F. Mullen III, the commander at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, ordered the commissary closed until further notice after Army veterinarians found evidence of a “significant rodent infestation.”

Since the store closed, a team of public health, sanitation, engineer and store operations experts from DeCA has been working with the installation’s military health personnel and the pest control contractor to address the problem. They’re determining how and where the rats are entering the store and sealing off those entry points, thoroughly cleaning the store and carefully inspecting all products, officials said.

“Great progress has been made thanks to the team of experts here working diligently to address the rodent control issue,” said Keith Hagenbuch, DeCA’s executive director for store operations. “The reopening date will be announced as soon as everything has been done to eradicate the pest and clean the store.

“Right now the well-being of our patrons is our top priority, so we are not taking any shortcuts. We regret the inconvenience this has caused, but we and our customers expect this to be done right.”

The problem was discovered after customers complained about produce quality issues, prompting Army veterinarians to increase their inspections of deliveries and produce handling and stocking techniques.

Evidence of the rats was found in the produce department and bakery/deli area, officials said.

Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.

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