Victoria was hit with another series of suspicious fires over the Eastern long weekend, says VicPD.
Fortunately there were no injuries in any of the incidents, but police believe six fires were deliberately set between 9:45 a.m. on Sunday, April 12th and 10:30 p.m. on Monday, April 13th.
These arson cases are being investigated alongside nine other suspicious fires set in Victoria and Esquimalt throughout the month of March and in early April.
Here are the details of the six most recent fires:
- 9:45 a.m., April 12th: Officers responded to a dumpster fire in the 3000-block of Blanshard Street. The dumpster sustained fire damage.
- 11 a.m., April 12th: Another dumpster fire was reported in the 2800-block of Irma Street. Again, the dumpster sustained damage.
- 10:15 p.m., April 12th: A patrol officer saw a cedar hedge on fire in the 900-block of Topaz Avenue, and used a fire extinguisher to start putting it out. Victoria Fire Department extinguished the rest of the flames.
- 8:15 a.m., April 13th: Police attended reports of a shed fire in the 400-block of Parry Street. The fire spread to the garage of an adjacent property in the 500-block of Michigan Street, and both the shed and the garage sustained fire damage.
- 10:30 p.m., April 13th: A large area of burned grass on a residential lawn was reported in the 500-block of Toronto Street. Police believe the fire that caused the damage was set within 24 hours of police being called.
- 10:45 p.m., April 13th: Officers attended for reports of a tent fire in the 500-block of Ellice Street in which multiple tents were damaged. Fortunately no one was injured.
In the wake of these fires, police are reminding the public to keep flammable objects like branches and cardboard away from businesses and residences, and remember to turn on exterior building lights at night to increase visibility in the area.
Victoria and Esquimalt aren’t the only areas affected by arsonists over the past month.
On March 30th, Saanich Police reported a series of suspicious fires that spanned the municipal borders of Saanich and Oak Bay, set in the area of Camosun College. A 26-year-old man was arrested in connection with those fires one day after they were reported.
Anyone with information on the fires reported today is asked to contact VicPD at (250) 995-7654. To report what you know anonymously, call Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
