HAWICK -- Two suspects have been arrested in connection with an early morning fire Saturday that damaged the Monson Lumber Co. in Hawick.
Both were taken into custody Saturday afternoon after the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Department executed a search warrant in Belgrade.
Names of the two men were being withheld until they appear in court. One, age 22, faces charges of third-degree burglary and theft; he could also be charged with arson, the Sheriff's Department said.
The other suspect, a 54-year-old man, faces a charge of liability for crimes of another.
Authorities believe the burglary and the three-alarm fire that broke out at the lumber yard are related.
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The Kandiyohi County law enforcement dispatch center received a phone call at 5:38 a.m. Saturday that there was a fire at the lumber company.
Firefighters from New London were assisted by fire departments from Spicer and Paynesville.
Kandiyohi County sheriff's deputies who arrived on the scene discovered there had been a break-in at the lumber company and someone was seen fleeing the building. A subsequent investigation led to the two arrests in Belgrade.
Firefighters had the fire doused by mid-morning but were called back shortly before noon when the blaze flared up again.
Monson Lumber Company is one of the last retail businesses remaining in Hawick, an unincorporated community on Minnesota Highway 23 between New London and Paynesville. The owners could not be reached Sunday for comment.
