Cars damaged after James Bay dumpster fire spreads; police investigating as arson

Victoria Police are investigating two late-night fires in James Bay as arson after one of the fires caused damage to a carport and several vehicles.

The fire occurred late Thursday, sometime before midnight.

Witness Liz Stirling said she saw the fire in the dumpster behind a building at 450 Dallas Road, near Menzies Avenue, at 11:55 p.m.

She said the blaze spread to a parking structure and ended up damaging at least five vehicles, noting that firefighters responded quickly.

“It was scary at the time to see and feel the heat and flaming ash. Just the speed of the roof catching on fire was pretty dramatic,” said Stirling.

Victoria Police say this is one of two arsons the department is investigating in James Bay Thursday night.

The first fire, where the cars were damaged, happened in the zero-block of Menzies Street. Victoria Fire extinguished the flames shortly before midnight and called VicPD to investigate.

When officers arrived, they noted extensive damage to the carport and six vehicles. VicPD says no one was injured in the fires.

“Significant damage took place as a result of this fire. I don’t have specific numbers on what that damage looks like, but there will be a thorough and detailed investigation,” said Const. Cam MacIntyre, Victoria Police Department.

Firefighters told police they had just finished responding to another fire 100 metres away from a fire that had been deliberately set, which residents were able to extinguish.

As the firefighters were leaving, nearby residents flagged them down to the larger fire in the carport.

Among those residents was Sylvia Brinckman, who lives next door to the complex. She says she was watching TV when she noticed the smoke from her windows and she quickly rushed to alert her neighbours.

“I called 911 and she said ‘yeah, we’re already on the way.’ Then someone came running down the street and said ‘oh, somebody started a fire, somebody else had lit something else on fire,’ said Brinckman.

Last night’s fires brings the total number of arsons in the James Bay area to six in the last 12 months. In October 2021, Police reported four separate arsons that took place on the same day, damaging vehicles. However, VicPD says those aren’t related to this latest pair of fires. They tell CHEK News that a suspect was arrested and remains in custody, pending 15 charges related to that case.

Police do not have details yet as to how the fire was set, but aren’t ruling out any causes.

VicPD is investigating both of these fires as arson and are asking anyone with dashcam, doorcam, or other video from the area from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. last night, to save your footage and call (250) 995-7654 extension 1. If you have information about these incidents and have yet to speak with investigators, you are asked to call (250) 995-7654 extension 1. To report what you know anonymously, you can call Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Courtesy of Victoria Police

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