Teen charged with arson for Whitefish fire

Whitefish Police have charged a 15-year-old Whitefish boy with arson related to a fire that was set April 3 at the Stumptown Thrift store on Baker Avenue.

Casey Ehrlick was arrested and charged with arson and is being held at Flathead County Juvenile Detention.

According to a police press release, Ehrlick admitted being at the scene but has denied setting the fire. Witnesses and video surveillance indicated Ehrlick was in the area in possession of instruments that may have been used in the crime.

The fire caused an estimated $125,000 in damage and endangered a resident of an apartment above the store. The resident had to run through flames barefoot to escape.

Ehrlick also is a suspect in a trash-container fire near Riverside Park that was set earlier the same evening.

The later fire was set in a donation drop box behind the thrift store at about 9:45 p.m. The fire spread up an outside wall of the store and into the roof above the apartments of the two-story building.

The apartments were damaged mostly by smoke and water. The storage room of the store was damaged but the main display area was not.