Quebec man, 37, charged with arson in connection with Chibougamau wildfires

Quebec provincial police arrested a man for arson in connection with numerous forest fires near Chibougamau this summer.

37-year-old Brian Paré faces two arson charges – and is said to have shared conspiracy theories about this summer’s forest fires.

He was arrested by the Sûreté du Québec’s (SQ) major crimes unit on Thursday.

Paré allegedly started a series of small fires between July 8 and September 5 – that were quickly extinguished by firefighters.

The alleged arsonist is said to have initially “caused damage by fire or explosion” to property that did not belong to him, namely a fishing cabin, around May 31.

The Crown opposed his release and he’ll remain in custody until his next court date on Monday.

“The investigation isn’t over, we still have to see if there’s a link to the principle forest fires that burned in the Chibougamau area,” Sgt. Hugues Beaulieu said in an interview Friday. “There’s a lot of work to do, but for the moment we were able to recommend two charges.”

Beaulieu said the case started with the investigation into the fishing cabin fire, during which police found evidence that led them to Thursday’s arrest. Along the way, Beaulieu said, police were assisted by behaviour analysis experts, criminal profilers, and forensic psychologists.

Chibougamau Mayor Manon Cyr says she was relieved when she learned of Pare’s arrest. In an interview Friday, the mayor said the fires that Pare is accused of starting were unrelated to the two massive wildfires that forced the evacuation of the town in June.

“We’ll see what’s said in court on this,” Cyr said. “But the big fires that caused the evacuation were caused by lightning.”

However, Paré is accused of deliberately starting fires at a time when the government had temporarily banned open-air fires and forbade people from entering the forests.

Quebec had an unprecedented forest fire season this year, with almost 15,000 square kilometres burned.

On May 31, Chapais was the first municipality in Quebec to call for the evacuation of part of its population due to forest fires.

Chibougamau’s 7,500 residents were temporarily forced from their homes on June 6 because of the blazes and poor air conditions.

-With files from The Canadian Press