Local RCMP are looking for help after three young men set fire to a park bench and garbage can near St. Albert Place.
Early Thursday morning the three individuals were walking in the area carrying a jerry can containing gasoline. They first set fire to a park bench in Lions Park then walked behind St. Albert Place and ignited a garbage can. The jerry can they were holding also caught fire. They threw it away before taking off.
The fire destroyed the park bench and damaged the garbage can but police are more concerned about what could have happened, said Cpl. Laurel Kading of the St. Albert RCMP.
“The damage isn’t that extensive, but the potential of what could have happened is,” she said.
It’s fortunate that the grass and trees in Lions Park were fairly wet, she said, adding that there was a lot of luck involved.
“Using gas as an accelerant, this fire could have been hot enough – it easily could have spread,” she said.
The three men all appear young. They were dressed in dark clothing and one was riding a small bicycle. On the security footage it appears that two of them might have been singed or burned when they set the garbage can alight, she said.
She hopes some member of the public will come forward with information.
“If these three young people messed up, we are also holding out the opportunity to come turn yourself in and let’s deal with this,” she added.
Last month a bus shelter in the Pineview neighbourhood was set on fire, and several weeks ago police responded to an incendiary device that was thrown on the back deck of a Heritage Lakes home. There is no evidence linking any of these events, but police continue to investigate, Kading said.
“We are going to follow up every lead that comes and we treat every investigation on its own as well as consider other investigations,” she said.
Anyone with any information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or the St. Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700.
