Two boys, ages 12 and 14, are slated to enter pleas Oct. 7 to charges of first-degree arson in a June fire that destroyed a partially burned historic home on West Fourth Street in The Dalles.
The home, in the 400 block of West Fourth Street, first burned in December 2011 and had been vacant since then. The fire was reported the evening of June 17.
The boys, both from The Dalles, were cited and released in July, said The Dalles Police Chief Jay Waterbury. He said the investigation gave police enough information to interview the two youth and charge them with arson. First-degree arson is a Class A felony.
First-degree arson is defined as a fire caused or started in what is considered a dwelling, said Molly Rogers, director of the Wasco County Youth Services Department.
She said it was the first time either boy had been in court and both were given public defenders.
Known as the Pentland House, the 148-year-old home was previously owned by Romul Grivov, who owned Romul’s Restaurant, when it burned in 2011. But because the exterior was still largely intact, there were hopes of restoration and it was never torn down.
In the June fire, police arrived first to find a small fire inside one of the rooms. A neighbor of the Pentland House told the Chronicle in June that the Pentland House was significant in The Dalles because it was the first house in The Dalles to have running water.
The home is now owned by Henry Tran and Kathleen Troung, who also bought Romul’s Restaurant from Grivov.
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