Whidbey police have arrested two young boys in connection with a suspicious house fire in Freeland last month.

The boys, both 15, allegedly confessed to being involved in the suspected arson case, the Island County Sheriff’s Office announced.

“The suspects are a (sic) two 15 year old males, one of which lives in the area,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “Both suspects have been interviewed and admitted their parts in the crime. Both were booked into the Island County Juvenile Detention Center and later released to their parents.”

Because both are juveniles and neither has been formally charged with a crime, the sheriff’s office is not releasing their names. Similarly, the South Whidbey Record does not name juvenile suspects until they are charged.

The sheriff’s office said the case is still an active investigation and that it would release additional information when it becomes available.

The fire occurred on Aug. 23 at an empty home on Honeymoon Bay Road. No one was living in the structure at the time; the windows were boarded up and the property was overgrown with blackberry bushes. It was reported by a passing sheriff’s deputy.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames before they spread to a neighboring home, but the house was a total loss.

This is the second suspected arson case this summer. Two houses in Useless Bay Colony were destroyed on July 6 when Blake Fountain allegedly set one of the homes on fire with gasoline. The flames spread and destroyed a neighboring house.

Summer fires also severely damaged Senior Thrift on July 23 and claimed a third home in the colony on Aug. 14. Fire investigators did not consider foul play in either case.