LAKESIDE — A trailer that burned in a fire Sunday has become part of a criminal investigation, and one of the men who lived there is in jail on an arson charge.

“In a nutshell, we had a structure fire. Due to some of the circumstances surrounding the fire, we’re feeling like this could be the scene of a crime,” said Deputy State Fire Marshal Charles Chase.

On Monday, at the single-wide mobile home on 225 Rainbow Lane, Chase said he was pursuing a search warrant for the property before continuing his investigation into the fire’s cause. He received the warrant a few hours later.

The case is being handled by the Coos County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police and the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

The single-wide trailer — occupied by brothers Michael Langley, 47, and Johnnie Langley, 50 — caught fire around 6 p.m. Sunday. Fifteen Lakeside Rural Fire Protection District firefighters responded with two engines, a pumper tender and a medic vehicle. The Hauser Rural Fire Protection District sent eight firefighters, a rescue vehicle and engine.

The trailer was totaled. Police arrested the Langleys at the scene and took them to the Coos County jail. Police arrested Johnnie Langley on a charge of disorderly conduct and later released him on citation. Law enforcement arrested Michael on a charge of interfering with a police officer. They added first-degree arson to his charges based on evidence at the scene and witness statements, a county press release said. A jail spokesman said Michael Langley remains at the jail this morning on $507,500 bail.

Although he wouldn’t say what he believes could be the cause of the blaze, Chase ruled out a cooking fire — because there is no stove on the property — and only hinted at why he believed the fire to be criminal in nature.

“If you take a 5-minute walk around this neighborhood, you’ll know everything I know,” Chase said.

“We’re making progress. I don’t have a conclusion for you just yet, though.”

This latest fire is added to a long list of structure fires in Lakeside.

Fire Chief Ted Ross said there have been seven highly involved structure fires so far this year.

Normally, the department responds to 10 fire calls a year, with two or three being structure fires.

 The age and condition of manufactured homes in town seems to have played a part in the large number of fires. Three of the fires were caused by electrical problems in the homes.

Ross said many of the manufactured homes were built in the 1960s and ’70s.

“Once they get to be 40 or 50 years old they become not a good place to live in,” he said.

He added that many of Lakeside’s residents are retired people who can’t afford home upgrades.

“Lakeside has just been unfortunate this year in that we have had more than our share of fires and emergency calls,” Ross said.