INNISFAIL – RCMP have charged a local teenager with arson following a house fire.
RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said in a media release late in the afternoon on Dec. 22 that Mounties received a report of a structure fire on 53rd Avenue at 10:50 a.m. on Dec. 21.
He said the fire on 53rd Avenue is unrelated to the earlier non-suspicious fatal house fire on 47th Street.
Earlier in the day, Gary Leith, the chief of the Innisfail Fire Department, said local firefighters responded to a house fire on 53rd Avenue.
“There was smoke billowing from the front door of the property,” said Leith of the scene when firefighters arrived. “There was a bedroom heavily involved in fire.”
He said local community peace officers had ensured the three residents were out and safe. Leith said they were not injured, and later received assistance from the Red Cross to be rehoused at a local hotel.
Leith said it took firefighters 10 to 15 minutes to put out the blaze. He said they remained at the scene for about two hours.
Savinkoff said the early investigation determined the fire was intentionally started by a 16-year-old resident of that house.
He said the youth was arrested by RCMP at the scene.
As a result of the investigation, the youth has been charged with arson to an inhabited property, said Savinkoff.
He said the youth was released by a justice of the peace and is scheduled to appear in Red Deer provincial court on Jan. 17.
