Juveniles charged with setting fire to historic Newberg trestle

Submitted photo##Authorities responded in June to a Newberg train trestle fire with an aggressive operation to prevent it from spreading to nearby homes and apartments. Two juveniles have been charged with setting the blaze.

Two juveniles have been charged with a train trestle fire in Newberg that caused an estimated $260,000 in damage in the early hours of July 29.

Newberg-Dundee police officers and the Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue responded to a fire in the 1300 block of Villa Road and found the historic trestle fully engulfed in flames.

During an investigation, detectives from the Newberg-Dundee Police Department learned a storage shed located on the property of the Northwest Christian Church was burglarized the same evening of the fire. Suspects stole a gas canister and moved a riding lawn mower around the church parking lot. Detectives found property was damaged, including a vehicle owned by the church.

“Through citizen tips and a thorough and lengthy investigation, detectives identified two juvenile suspects,” NDPD officials said in a press release. “Detectives learned the two juveniles broke into the storage shed at the church and used the gas canister to start a fire near the train trestle. … Upon contact by detectives, both juvenile suspects cooperated with the investigation.”

The juveniles were arrested Sept. 4 on multiple crimes related to this incident and were lodged at the Yamhill County Juvenile Detention Center in McMinnville.

The juveniles’ names will not be released, as they are minors, NDPD said.

The agency thanked TVF&R, Oregon State Police Arson Unit investigators, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Forensics Team, the FBI, and ATF for assistance in this investigation.

Additionally, the city of Newberg’s Public Works Department worked in the days following the fire to clean up the area around the trestle, allowing the road to reopen for both vehicle and pedestrian traffic, NPDP noted.