3 boys charged with arson in church fire

Three boys were charged with second-degree arson yesterday after accidentally setting fire to an 81-year-old church east of the Carroll County line, Baltimore County police said.

Deer Park United Methodist Church in the 6100 block of Deer Park Road near Reisterstown sustained $250,000 in damage when its roof caught fire after midnight yesterday, police said. No one was injured.

Police believe the boys - ages 12, 13 and 14 - had been burning materials near the church when it caught fire. Police would not say what the materials were or where the boys live.

The church roof - and a decorative tin ceiling from 1923 - sustained most of the fire damage, according to the Baltimore County Fire Department.

One firefighter was injured and was treated at the scene, fire officials said.