Given the task definition and input, reply with output. In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.

A volunteer firefighter is suspected of igniting a string of fires around the town, including a blaze that destroyed a wooden CN Rail bridge in Alberta Tuesday. 
  
 Lawson Michael Schalm, 19, is charged with 18 counts of arson in connection with a recent rash of fires, RCMP said Saturday night. 
  
 “The community’s in shock right now,” Mayerthorpe Mayor Kate Patrick said. “They’re happy to know that someone has been apprehended, but they’re certainly in shock as to who it is.” 
  
 Schalm has worked as a volunteer firefighter with the Mayerthorpe Fire Department, Patrick said. His father Albert was mayor of the town for three years, and now serves as a school trustee with the Northern Gateway school district, Patrick said. 
  
 The Tuesday CN trestle bridge fire was so intense that Lac Ste. Anne County firefighters called in provincial forest firefighters, an air tanker, and a helicopter to prevent the blaze from spreading to the surrounding trees. 
  
 The resulting thick plume of black smoke prompted the evacuation of two Mayerthorpe schools and a nearby trailer park. The broken rail link has caused logistical headaches for some local businesses. 
  
 RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Sharon Franks said there have been more than 20 fires in the Mayerthorpe area during the last 30 days. More charges may be pending, Franks said. 
  
 Most of the recent blazes have been grass fires, Patrick said. 
  
 On Friday, firefighters responded to five fires, she said. Four were in the wee hours of the morning, including two brush fires on sports grounds, one in a river valley, and another on the town’s main street. That afternoon, there were flames again on the river bank, Patrick said. 
  
 A paramedic found, and extinguished, another small fire near the local legion hall. Firefighters also responded to spot fires near the trestle bridge before Tuesday’s spectacular blaze. 
  
 Schalm was involved with the cadets, school theatre productions, and teen drug use prevention programs in his community, Patrick said. A Mayerthorpe Freelancer article from 2014 says cadets can volunteer with the fire department as young as age 15, and can begin responding to fire calls when they’re 17. 
  
 Mayerthorpe’s fire chief couldn’t be reached Saturday evening. 
  
 Franks said Schalm was not previously known to police. In custody on Saturday night, Schalm is due to appear in Stony Plain Provincial Court on Wednesday. ||||| A former Mayerthorpe mayor says he remains supportive of his firefighter son, who faces 18 counts of arson for a spree of major fires he allegedly started in the Alberta town. 
  
 The charges against 19-year-old Lawson Schalm are related to numerous suspicious fires in the area that began on April 19, including a massive one that destroyed the CN trestle bridge. 
  
 On Sunday, Mayerthorpe fire Chief Randy Schroeder confirmed Schalm was one of the volunteer firefighters called to actively battle that fire, as well as four other fires during the course of the spree. 
  
 "There's an unconditional love for my son," Albert Schalm said, his voice trembling. "No matter how this ends up, there will always be a dinner plate at my table for my son. He is always welcome in my home." 
  
 Albert Schalm said his son began working for the Mayerthorpe fire department when he was 15 years old and was considering a possible future with the department. 
  
 "We were shocked," he said. "He was planning out his future and where it would go from there, and obviously some of that will be on hold for a while." 
  
 Schalm is in custody and is scheduled to make his first court appearance in Stony Plain provincial court on Wednesday. 
  
 Fire department shocked, chief says 
  
 The CN bridge fire forced the evacuation of nearby schools and a trailer park with 38 mobile homes. Some Lac St. Anne County residents living nearby were also told to be ready to leave on one-hour notice. 
  
 Fire chief Schroeder said last week almost three dozen firefighters from four different fire departments in the area were called to help douse the flames, alongside agriculture and forestry services members, helicopters and a water bomber. 
  
 The loss of the bridge will impact the lumber and oil industries "extensively," Schroeder said. 
  
 He said the fire department is struggling to come to terms with the charges against one of their own. 
  
 "We're certainly very shocked, bewildered, wounded and a little hurt on the discovery of this," he said. "The discovery that one of our own potentially lit 18 fires is definitely affecting our station, for sure." 
  
 Schroeder and Mayerthorpe Mayor Kate Patrick said in a news release that members of the fire department will undergo "critical incident stress debriefing," and that individual counselling will be available to all members over word of the charges. 
  
 Schroeder said the department is still functioning normally and providing service as usual for the community, and also extending their support to the Schalm family. 
  
 "We understand that this has got to be a tremendously trying time for his family members," he said. 
  
 'There will always be a dinner plate at my table for my son' 
  
 Albert Schalm said he hasn't yet been able to speak with his son, but that the community has been supportive of the family. 
  
 Schalm was mayor of Mayerthorpe in 2005, when four RCMP officers were shot and killed near the town. 
  
 "This is a community that I've poured my heart and soul into. Moving this community forward, that's still going to continue." 
  
 - Albert Schalm, father of accused in Mayerthorpe, Alta., arsons 
  
 "We're thankful that this is over for the community, and for ourselves and for everybody, and that nobody got hurt, there were no serious injuries. You have to be really thankful for that. 
  
 "This is a community that I've poured my heart and soul into. Moving this community forward, that's still going to continue." 
  
 Schalm's son was expected to graduate high school in two months, and the family is now focusing on their son's future, Schalm said. 
  
 Despite what he calls a "dark period," he said his family's focus will remain on his son, and their Christian faith. 
  
 "We refuse to be devastated by this. I refuse to throw my son under the bus. I'm not that kind of dad. My goal is to get him back on the road, get his future going again." ||||| Mayerthorpe’s fire chief said there’s a sense of betrayal following the arrest of a volunteer firefighter in connection with a slew of suspicious fires in the area. 
  
 “We didn’t see this coming,” Randy Schroeder said. “The aspect of what we do to protect the community, the lengths at which we strive in order to train…It’s devastating.” 
  
 READ MORE: Mayerthorpe junior firefighter charged with 18 counts of arson 
  
 On Saturday, Lawson Michael Schalm, 19, of Mayerthorpe, was charged with 18 counts of arson in relation to a recent rash of fires in the area, including the blaze which destroyed a CN trestle bridge. 
  
 READ MORE: Massive Mayerthorpe trestle bridge fire being investigated as arson 
  
 Schalm is a junior firefighter with the Mayerthorpe Fire Department and was standing alongside firefighters battling the trestle bridge blaze. 
  
 “There’s a sense, on behalf of the members, a sense of betrayal, because the fact is we work very hard,” Schroeder said. 
  
 Schroeder said Schalm was a great firefighter and had good prospects of becoming a lifelong firefighter. 
  
 “It’s heartbreaking,” the fire chief added. 
  
 The fact that Schalm served in a volunteer capacity makes this even more upsetting, Schroeder said. Schalm signed on to be part of the volunteer department when he turned 18. 
  
 “This member started as a junior at 15 and…our cadet program emphasizes great community service.” 
  
 Schroeder said potential firefighters submit a job application, must pass a physical test and character references are checked. If an applicant begins the process after the age of 18, a criminal record check is requested by the department. 
  
 He said there is also a sense of shock over the arrest. 
  
 “[Schalm] was on five of the scenes – as an active firefighter – that are in question and at least four as a bystander,” Schroeder said. “We didn’t see it coming.” 
  
 He said Schalm showed no signs of being involved whatsoever. 
  
 “He was part of the attack to a limited basis with his training,” Schroeder said. “He wasn’t qualified for interior attack, but certainly on support lines and on exterior.” 
  
 The fire chief wonders what the department could have missed. 
  
 “I try not to take it personally. I’m struggling like any of our members with questions of ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ and ‘what did we miss?’ I would like to be able to roll the tape back metaphorically speaking and get a better understanding,” the fire chief said. 
  
 #Mayerthorpe fire chief Randy Schroeder and mayor Kate Patrick address the media. #YEG pic.twitter.com/VLF33Uoc02 — Julia Wong (@JWongGlobalNews) May 1, 2016 
  
 The mayor called the whole situation “heartbreaking and sad.” 
  
 “The community is saddened to hear of the arrest of this person but are happy to know it’s been successfully completed,” Kate Patrick said. 
  
 She confirmed Schalm was a member of the Mayerthorpe Fire Department and Lac Ste. Anne Fire Services. 
  
 Global News has learned Schalm is the son of former Mayerthorpe mayor Albert Schalm. 
  
 “We respectfully wish the community supports their family,” Patrick said. 
  
 “They’re well-respected, a very nice family. We want the community to move forward and honestly respect them.” 
  
 Theresa Wallace, 16, has known Schalm for several years. The Grade 11 student calls him a “super nice kid.” 
  
 “I don’t think he’s capable of this,” Wallace said. “He’s… super laid back. I don’t know, he’s a good kid. He’s shy, totally shy, but once you get to know him he’s super nice,” she said. 
  
 Wallace said Schalm, who was set to graduate Grade 12 this year, was involved with school plays and other programs. 
  
 “It’s kind of appalling when I found out he got arrested,” she said. 
  
 “Everybody is just focusing on if he’s OK. We’re more worried about his well-being than anything else.” 
  
 READ MORE: Citizen patrol group launched after string of suspicious fires in Mayerthorpe 
  
 The community launched a citizens patrol group after the 17 fires in the area were sparked over a period of just six days. Then on Friday, five more suspicious fires were set. 
  
 Barry Fulford, a citizens patrol member, said the community is relieved following the arrest. 
  
 “Last night was kind of quiet in town. There were no fire trucks, no fires – it was kind of relaxing.” 
  
 “It’s a little more comforting,” he said. “It’s a little more settling. A sense of relief I’m sure will take place today.” 
  
 The patrol group is still going ahead despite the arrest. 
  
 Mayerthorpe, Alta. is located 120 kilometres north of Edmonton. 
  
 RCMP are not seeking any other suspects in the fires. They said further charges against Schalm could be laid, but did not elaborate. 
  
 With files from Julia Wong, Global News 
  
 Follow @Emily_Mertz |||||

After more than 20 suspicious fires in the space of a few weeks, it didn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that an arsonist was at work in the small town of Mayerthorpe, Alberta—but the real shock was the suspect's identity. On Saturday, volunteer firefighter Lawson Michael Schalm, 19, was arrested and charged with 18 counts of arson, including one relating to a spectacular fire that destroyed a rail trestle bridge last week, the National Post reports. Authorities say Schalm, the son of an ex-mayor, helped fight at least five of the fires and was a bystander at several others. "We're certainly very shocked, bewildered, wounded, and a little hurt," fire Chief Randy Schroeder says. "The discovery that one of our own potentially lit 18 fires is definitely affecting our station." Schroder tells Global News that the situation is "heartbreaking" and firefighters are struggling to deal with the apparent betrayal by Schalm, who started out as a cadet at 15 and had good prospects of becoming a career firefighter. "I would like to be able to roll the tape back metaphorically speaking and get a better understanding," the chief says. Former mayor Albert Schalm says that while he is shocked by the allegations, his love for his son is "unconditional" and there "will always be a dinner plate at my table" for him." I refuse to throw my son under the bus. I'm not that kind of dad," he tells the CBC. "My goal is to get him back on the road, get his future going again." (This California man filmed himself starting a massive wildfire and is now serving 20 years in prison.)