UPDATED: Man charged after Sundre house fire
Posted Jan 9, 2016 4:27 pm.
Last Updated Jan 9, 2016 4:42 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A 43-year-old man is facing multiple charges after a house fire on a rural property near Sundre.
Emergency crews were called to a scene in the Bearberry area along Secondary Highway 584 on Thursday. When they arrived, the house was completely engulfed in flames.
An investigation found that Derek Littlejohn allegedly doused the house, along with its owner, a 45-year-old woman, with gasoline, and then started the fire by throwing gasoline on a wood-burning stove.
The woman managed to escape the home without injuries, before heading to a neighbour’s house and calling 911.
Littlejohn was found and arrested a short time later. He has been charged with six different counts, including arson, forcible confinement and assault with a deadly weapon.
It’s believed the suspect and woman knew one another prior to the incident.
Littlejohn will make his first court appearance on January 11.
