A 22-year-old man is facing multiple charges after confessing to burning down a historic home earlier this week.

Emergency personnel were called on January  5, around 11:00 p.m., for reports of a house fire on Pelly Avenue in Russell, Man.

The Manitoba RCMP says in a release that when officers arrived the home was fully engulfed in flames and members of the Russell Binscarth Fire Department were already battling the blaze.

The home is known as the Red House and was the oldest surviving home in the community. It was built in 1888 by William Barrett Lennard, according to the Manitoba Historical Society.

Another angle of the destroyed home, with burn marks up the brick exterior

A couple of hours after the incident, just before 1 a.m., 911 dispatchers advised that they received a call from a man, who called in to report that he was responsible for the house fire on Pelly Avenue. He gave his location and officers arrested the male, who was found to be in possession of a container believed to be gasoline.

The man, who is from Russell, has been charged with Arson, Mischief and Break and Entering to Commit an Offence. He was remanded into custody.

Russell RCMP continues to investigate.

Russell is approximately 300 km northwest of Winnipeg, near the Saskatchewan border.