RCMP have charged a pair of 19-year-olds — one male, one female — from Merritt with arson in relation to the suspicious barn fire behind the Spring Island Trailer Court last month.
They were charged under section 434 of the criminal code with causing damage by fire or explosion to property and made an appearance in court on July 21.
The two will appear in court again on August 4.
Back on June 7, at about 2:30 a.m., the Merritt Fire Rescue Department responded to a barn fully engulfed in flames.
MFRD extinguished the abandoned structure at 1500 Spring Street behind the trailer park in about an hour.
No one was hurt, and no other properties were damaged by the flames.
Police charged the two teens after receiving information from the public that the two had been seen at the barn at about the time of the fire.
A subsequent investigation led to charges being laid.
Const. Tracy Dunsmore said the two suspects are not residents of the trailer park, and are not being charged with any of the other suspicious fires that have occurred in town recently.
“I can’t say that they’re not guilty because we don’t know who’s guilty, but at this time, these are the only charges that we are laying against them,” Dunsmore said.
There have been five other suspicious fires in Merritt since June.
Police are still investigating these other cases and ask that members of the public with any information regarding them contact RCMP at 250-378-4262 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.