Suspect arrested as Victoria police investigate string of suspicious fires
Victoria police have arrested one person and are still investigating three suspicious fires that burned in the downtown core early Friday morning.
One fire occurred outside the Bay Centre at the corner of Broad Street and View Street, damaging some of the exterior of the building. Patrol officers were called to the scene at approximately 3:40 a.m. and doused the flames with fire extinguishers.
Police say one person was arrested a short time later and is being held in custody pending a court appearance.
Another fire burned in a garbage can in the 500-block of Yates Street around 3:55 a.m. Patrol officers responded to an alleyway where a resident was already working to extinguish the flames before firefighters arrived.
Both of the fires are being investigated as arsons, police said.
A small fire in the 1000-block of Balmoral Road, near Cook Street, was reported around 2 a.m. The fire was found in a hedge and quickly doused by firefighters without significant damage, police said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation and police have yet to determine whether any of the fires are connected.
Investigators are asking anyone with video from these areas between 1:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. to save their footage and call the VicPD Report Desk at 250-995-7654.
Exactly one week earlier, on the evening of June 16, police were called to two suspicious fires in the James Bay area.
Both of those fires are being investigated as arson, including one fire that damaged and destroyed six parked vehicles, as well as a carport.
The damaged vehicles and carport are pictured on June 17, 2022. (CTV News)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.