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A Mayerthorpe volunteer firefighter is suspected of igniting a string of fires around the town, including a blaze that destroyed a wooden CN Rail bridge Tuesday.

Lawson Michael Schalm, 19, is charged with 18 counts of arson in connection with a recent rash of fires, RCMP said Saturday night.

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“The community’s in shock right now,” Mayerthorpe Mayor Kate Patrick said. “They’re happy to know that someone has been apprehended, but they’re certainly in shock as to who it is.”

Schalm has worked as a volunteer firefighter with the Mayerthorpe Fire Department, Patrick said. His father Albert was mayor of the town for three years, and now serves as a school trustee with the Northern Gateway school district, Patrick said.

The Tuesday CN trestle bridge fire was so intense that Lac Ste. Anne County firefighters called in provincial forest firefighters, an air tanker, and a helicopter to prevent the blaze from spreading to the surrounding trees.