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BRIGHAM CITY — A teen from California confessed to setting a fire that destroyed the Baron Woolen Mills on June 29, police said.
A 17-year-old boy from Tulare County, California was visiting family with his father when he accidentally started the fire. The teen confessed to the incident after he returned to California, said Lt. Mike Nelson with the Brigham City Police Department.
The teen said he went on a walk and entered the Baron Woolen Mills on the night of June 29. He started a fire then tried to smother it, Nelson said. The boy thought he had successfully smothered it, but within a few minutes of returning to his relatives' home, he noticed the fire engines and smoke coming from the area of the Baron Woolen Mills.
Nelson said they believe the boy told his father before they left Utah. But officials in Utah were made aware of the confession after the teen arrived home in California and told his mother, who took him to the Tulare County Sheriff's Office.
Brigham City Police have spoken with deputies from Tulare County, but they do not yet know how the teen started the fire, according to Nelson.
Nelson said the boy may face a reckless burning charge, a class A misdemeanor. Police are waiting for documents mailed to them by the Tulare County Sheriff's Office as part of the ongoing investigation.
