A Cloquet man is in Carlton County Jail in connection with a Wednesday night garage fire that caused an estimated $15,000 in damage.
According to the Cloquet Police Department, a 24-year-old man started a fire near his garage and then left the fire to go to a friend's house. Around 9 p.m., the Cloquet Fire Department responded to a call of a garage fully engulfed in flames.
The man returned to the scene as police and fire officials were still in the process of extinguishing the fire. Initially the man denied having any connection with the blaze, which burned his garage and caused minor damage to a neighbor's garage, according to police.
After talking with some of the neighbors, police determined that the man had been seen earlier in his backyard burning something, said Detective Darrin Berg, of the Cloquet Police Department.
He later admitted to having a fire and leaving it to go to a friend's house, according to Berg.
ADVERTISEMENT
The man faces potential negligent-fire charges.
