An outbreak of dangerous arsons committed by kids living in Bloodvein First Nation appears to be showing no signs of slowing after two teen girls were charged Thursday for torching a family’s home.

The suspects, 12 and 14, were arrested after the unoccupied two-storey house used by the Johnson family caught fire Wednesday evening. The two-storey structure was razed by the blaze but there were no injuries, said RCMP.

Victoria and Jason Johnson are in Winnipeg helping their young son recover after he was recently mauled by a dog in the community, located about 300 km north of Winnipeg. They couldn’t be reached for comment.

It’s the sixth confirmed arson case seen this year so far in the remote community of about 1,000.

In 2012, RCMP said they investigated eight arsons there.

The per-capita rate of the crime in Bloodvein is far greater than the provincial average per 100,000, based on RCMP statistics.

Justice officials contend its youth arson problem is “out of control” and have hinted the community lacks proper firefighting resources.

Evidence of the dangerous crime’s prevalence was made apparent during last month’s provincial court hearing in the community.

Judge Michel Chartier juggled a battery of youth arson cases which took up a sizeable portion of the court’s time.

The similarity of circumstances between the cases caused brief confusion when Chartier mistakenly thought he had already heard the facts of one case already.

“There have been a lot of similar occurrences,” attorney David Philips said. “Your Honour has sentenced a number of (youths) in the community on similar offences. So, unfortunately, you have some sort of flavour of what’s going on with the kids in this community in the last year or so.”

Chartier dealt with the following cases on May 15:

— A 12-year-old girl who torched a garage with pals in early April, and then only days later set another fire in a woman’s home while on bail for the first pleaded guilty to both. Her case was remanded to obtain a pre-sentencing report as the Crown may seek jail time.

— A 15-year-old girl with a prior arson conviction admitted she torched a man’s unoccupied house April 16 assisted by another girl, 14, who was sentenced in December for a separate arson. Court heard she set one fire in the home and then went back in to re-light it after the first didn’t take. The fire knocked out power and telephone in part of the community for three days.

— A 13-year-old boy pleaded guilty for his role in torching an unused Bloodvein daycare centre in April 2012 by soaking paper in a filing cabinet with gasoline and lighting it. After that fire was set, a teen co-accused is suspected of torching an adjacent adult education centre.

— A 14-year-old girl, who also has a prior for arson, pleaded guilty for her role in torching a structure on April 5.

james.turner@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @heyjturner