3 charged with arson in Petit-Cap smokehouse fire

Three menface arsoncharges after afish smokehouse in Petit-Cap burned to the ground, the ShediacRCMP said Tuesday.

Cody Dubchak, 38,Austin Dernier, 21 and Stephane Gallant, 36, are charged with arson-damage to property, police said in a news release.

They appearedin Monctonprovincial court July 12, three days after the fire in the community 57 kilometres east of Moncton.

All three were taken into custody, with court appearances scheduled for this month.

According to the court docket, Dubchak and Gallant are to appear July 19, and Dernier is to appearJuly 22.

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Both Dubchak and Dernier are from Shediac, about 33 kilometres west of Petit-Cap,and Gallant is from Boudreau-Ouest, in the Shediac area.

On July 9, firefighters receivedreports of large amounts of smoke coming from Petit-Capat about 5 a.m.

Fire investigators eventually discovered the fire had started in the backof the building.

The impacted business is Elphege & Norbert LeBlanc, a fish processing smokehouse owned by Marc and Donna Cormierthat employsabout 40 people.

It's one of many fires that have ravaged local businesses in the area in the past few years.

RCMP said they became aware of thefire at 5:30 a.m. and confirmed that no one was in the building at the time.

Thestatement said the investigation is continuing.