A Cloquet man whose Sahlman Avenue townhouse caught fire in early January faces felony drug charges that resulted from investigation of that incident. Ryan Daniel Yollen, 30, was charged with two counts of fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance and is scheduled for his first appearance in Carlton County Court on March 2.
When members of the Cloquet Area Fire District responded to the report of the fire in Yollen’s townhome, they discovered a blaze that had reportedly started in a mattress in a second floor bedroom, and the fire had burned completely through the wall of the townhome. The fire took 14 firefighters to extinguish, and it caused approximately $10,000 in damage.
While fighting the fire, fire department personnel discovered a controlled substance in the upstairs bedroom and notified law enforcement, according to the complaint filed in the incident. Cloquet police officers and investigators responded to the scene and prohibited entry into the residence until a search warrant could be obtained. After the warrant was issued, officers entered the residence and located 13 grams of hash oil and 55 grams of marijuana.
