A 29-year-old man has been charged with one count of arson following Monday’s fire in Mustang Acres that destroyed a mobile home.
Red Deer RCMP have charged Randy Evans, who they say was one of the occupants of the trailer.
Red Deer Emergency Services received a call just after 2 p.m. on Monday about a fire at 6834 59th Ave.
Crews took nearly 40 minutes to put out the blaze.
No injuries were reported as no one was home during the fire and no surrounding mobile homes were affected.
Police say an investigation later determined the fire was deliberately set.
Daniel Land, who has owned the mobile home for the past four years and was renting it out, said he had been trying to evict the current tenants for a number of months due to missed rent payments.
Land said he served the tenants with court-ordered eviction papers on Friday, ordering them to be out by noon on Tuesday.
The trailer was not covered with insurance, he said.
“I’d had insurance on it before but I didn’t bother renewing it because I was going to sell it and I didn’t realize how long that process would drag out.”
“It’s not a happy story but it’s a lesson in life. Always have insurance no matter what. I should know better. I was taking full possession of it on Tuesday and I had the place sold . . . Now it’ll cost $3,000 to pull it out of there.”
Evans remains in custody and will appear in Red Deer provincial court on Nov. 15.
rfrancoeur@www.reddeeradvocate.com