Man faces 25 arson charges after fires at McCain Carberry potato plant

A Brandon man is accused of setting more than two dozen fires at the McCain potato processing plant near Carberry. The man was arrested and charged by the RCMP.

Between Nov. 10 and Dec. 7, the McCain plant had been victim to about 20 small fires in the oil filer paper boxes of the potato processing lines. Another fire had been set in the cooking oil room, where an oil valve had been left open for about an hour and a half and an overflow pipe lit on fire -- burning through about 2,900 gallons of cooking oil worth nearly $3,000.

Then, on Dec. 7 at about 10 p.m., firefighters were called to the plant for a fire in a storage area. That fire was contained to a small room and was quickly extinguished, but not before causing about $5,000 in damage.

After putting out that fire, police and fire personnel discovered three more fires burning in other areas of the large storage compound. The damage incurred by those fire was minimal and they were also extinguished.