Alberta firefighter faces 18 arson charges, including fire that burned CN bridge
Posted May 1, 2016 2:50 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A firefighter who battled the flames that destroyed a railway trestle bridge northwest of Edmonton last week has now been charged with setting the fire, as well as others in and around his community.
RCMP say Lawson Michael Schalm, 19, of Mayerthorpe faces 18 counts of arson following the investigation into a recent rash of fires, including the one on the CN bridge on April 26.
The chief of the town’s fire department, Randy Schroeder, says Schalm is the son of a former mayor of Mayerthorpe and joined the department as junior member when he was 15.
He became a full member when he turned 18.
Schroeder confirmed that Schalm was among the firefighters who battled last week’s fire on the bridge.
Police say no one was hurt in the fires.
Schalm is being held in custody and will make his first court appearance on the arson allegations in Stony Plain Provincial Court on Wednesday.
