A man near Cold Lake has been charged with burning a church to the ground and has been remanded into custody..The Cold Lake RCMP and Forestry Crimes Unit (FCU) and investigators from Alberta Forestry and Parks and Tourism, worked together to investigate a series of intentionally set wildfires that occurred between August and September of 2022, as well as several arsons to vehicles and structures in the Hamlet of Cherry Grove that occurred in April..In August of 2022, an investigation began into several wildfires in the Hilda Lake, Cold Lake Provincial Park, Ardmore, and Cherry Grove areas. At the time, the FCU and their Government of Alberta partners deemed the fires suspicious and determined they'd been intentionally set..On Sept.9, 2022, Cold Lake RCMP responded to a report of a fire at the Cherry Grove Rodeo Grounds where a wooden platform appeared to have been deliberately set on fire..In the early morning hours of April 28, Cold Lake RCMP received a call that the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints and the Canada Post Office, located in Cherry Grove, was on fire..The church was destroyed and the Canada Post Office was heavily damaged. Investigation revealed the fires were arson..On April 30, Cold Lake RCMP responded to several vehicle and structure fires within the Hamlet of Cherry Grove, in and around the Maple Street and Pine Drive areas, including two residential homes. Again, these were determined to be arson..On April 30, Cold Lake RCMP arrested John Cook, 29, a resident of Cherry Grove, with setting the fires..Cook was charged with 10 counts of arson. Cook was also subject to conditions of a conditional sentence order (CSO) requiring him to be on his property 24 hours per day for an unrelated incident and breached the order..After a judicial interim release hearing, Cook was remanded into custody and will appear in Alberta Court of Justice in Cold Lake on May 10.
A man near Cold Lake has been charged with burning a church to the ground and has been remanded into custody..The Cold Lake RCMP and Forestry Crimes Unit (FCU) and investigators from Alberta Forestry and Parks and Tourism, worked together to investigate a series of intentionally set wildfires that occurred between August and September of 2022, as well as several arsons to vehicles and structures in the Hamlet of Cherry Grove that occurred in April..In August of 2022, an investigation began into several wildfires in the Hilda Lake, Cold Lake Provincial Park, Ardmore, and Cherry Grove areas. At the time, the FCU and their Government of Alberta partners deemed the fires suspicious and determined they'd been intentionally set..On Sept.9, 2022, Cold Lake RCMP responded to a report of a fire at the Cherry Grove Rodeo Grounds where a wooden platform appeared to have been deliberately set on fire..In the early morning hours of April 28, Cold Lake RCMP received a call that the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints and the Canada Post Office, located in Cherry Grove, was on fire..The church was destroyed and the Canada Post Office was heavily damaged. Investigation revealed the fires were arson..On April 30, Cold Lake RCMP responded to several vehicle and structure fires within the Hamlet of Cherry Grove, in and around the Maple Street and Pine Drive areas, including two residential homes. Again, these were determined to be arson..On April 30, Cold Lake RCMP arrested John Cook, 29, a resident of Cherry Grove, with setting the fires..Cook was charged with 10 counts of arson. Cook was also subject to conditions of a conditional sentence order (CSO) requiring him to be on his property 24 hours per day for an unrelated incident and breached the order..After a judicial interim release hearing, Cook was remanded into custody and will appear in Alberta Court of Justice in Cold Lake on May 10.
