MILLINOCKET – A 14-year-old boy was arrested Tuesday in connection with a deliberately set fire that caused $43,000 in damage to the town’s volunteer-funded creative playground on July 9, police said.

Detective Ron McCarthy charged the Millinocket boy with criminal mischief and failure to report and control a dangerous fire after the District Attorney’s Office in Bangor reviewed his case, he said. McCarthy considered an arson charge, but the district attorney said that the case didn’t quite merit it.

Maine General Statutes define arson as a felony wherein a person starts a fire “with the intent to damage or destroy property thereon” and “recklessly endangers any person or the property of another.”

“This is this juvenile’s first charge, and I don’t have enough to prove intent to start a fire,” McCarthy said Tuesday. “In a case like arson, we have to prove that he intended to start fire, and with the witnesses and suspect’s testimony, there isn’t enough to prove that.”

McCarthy declined to comment on the motive or method applied in the crime, saying only that his investigation showed that the fire was not an accident and that the suspect cooperated fully.

The fire at Katahdin Pride Park near Stearns High School consumed a 70-foot strip of rubber matting made from recycled tires. It destroyed a rock climbing wall, slide, miniature plastic fire truck and several swings.

Staff from the nearby town pool spotted the fire and helped contain it while keeping children away from the blaze until firefighters arrived.

Started in 2004 and largely finished by 2006, the Providing Area Recreation for Kids committee raised about $96,000 for the park, which was insured against fire by the town.

McCarthy said he did not know whether restitution would be sought from the boy’s family. Nor did Town Manager Eugene Conlogue, who condemned the crime during a Town Council meeting on July 24 and said he hoped there would be a fitting penalty for the damage done.

“It hasn’t been discussed yet,” Conlogue said Tuesday. “We will try to get the playground put together and reopened. These types of issues [restitution] are secondary to that.”

The damaged areas have been cleaned, the usable parts of the park reopened, and town officials are awaiting replacement parts that were ordered late last month. The parts should arrive within a few weeks.

The council lauded Recreation Department workers for their adroit handling of the fire. The workers also aided the investigation. McCarthy said two workers helped him identify two juveniles who were sitting beside the suspect when the fire began. The juveniles identified the suspect.

Three other juveniles were also there, but they were too distant to have been involved in the fire, McCarthy said.

McCarthy described the fire as an unfortunate first-time occurrence for the suspect. Apart from this incident, the suspect, McCarthy said, is “a good kid. He’s never done anything wrong in his life. The only reason he didn’t come forward himself was that he was afraid to.”

The suspect has been referred to juvenile authorities and is due in Millinocket District Court on Oct. 1.

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