A 13-year-old boy was arrested Sunday evening, Nov. 1, in connection with the fire that burned the former Weyerhaeuser and Willamette Industries sawmill at the east end of Tamarack Street Saturday afternoon.
Sweet Home Police Sgt. Jason VanEck said Charles Marvel, 13, was taken into custody as a result of witness statements.
The fire destroyed old Willamette Industries mill structures Saturday evening.
Sweet Home firefighters responded to the fire at 2210 Tamarack St. at approximately 5:04 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.
They arrived to find a locked gate and the mill buildings fully involved, flames towering over the property. They cut through the gate to gain entry into the property and begin battling the blaze.
The buildings were located directly south of the old office, located at the intersection of 22nd and Tamarack streets, just north of the railroad tracks and easily visible to a gathering crowd of onlookers along the east side of 18th Avenue.
Firefighters knocked down the largest of the flames within an hour.
Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District also responded to a reported fire at the same location on Friday at approximately 3:35 p.m.
Then they located a small fire burning on the floor, which went out as soon as they put water on it.
The building was not powered.
Police do not know yet if the two fires are connected, Van Eck said, but the investigation is continuing.
Family Pallet Lumber operates on the property although it did not use any of the burned structures. During the fire Saturday, employees quickly moved pallets of lumber away from the burning structures, and the business appeared to be undamaged.
Van Eck said Marvel was apparently one of a group of juveniles who visited the mill site to skateboard.
Marvel was charged with second-degree arson and was transported to the Linn-Benton Detention Center. A court hearing in his case was expected Monday, after which he could be released or remain in custody, Van Eck said.
Anyone with information related to the fire is asked to contact Officer Ryan Cummings or Sgt. Jason Ogden at (541) 367-5181.
Further details will appear as they become available, and a full report will appear in the Nov. 4 edition of The New Era.