Charges have been laid after  multiple fires were set along the Nanaimo Parkway on Tuesday, July 4. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

arson

Quebec man charged for lighting multiple fires along Nanaimo Parkway

Jul 7, 2023 | 1:43 PM

NANAIMO —A Quebec man who Nanaimo RCMP allege lit a series of fires along the Nanaimo Parkway has been charged.

Kevin Frank Macey-Girard, 35, is accused of setting over a half-dozen small fires, which were fanned by gusty winds, around the Northfield Rd. intersection on Tuesday, July 4.

He was formally charged with one count of arson and mischief, along with an additional charge of break and enter. The break and enter charge is unrelated to the fires and comes from an incident in south Nanaimo on June 15.

First responders were told on the scene a man was “yelling incoherently” while walking the Parkway trail setting alight the tinder-dry grass and shrubs.

The description was passed onto Nanaimo RCMP officers who quickly located and arrested Macey Girard around 300 metres south of Northfield Rd.

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Macey-Girard will remain in custody pending a Tuesday, July 11 court appearance when he’s scheduled to have a bail hearing.

A day following the multiple fires breaking out on either side of the Nanaimo Parkway, Nanaimo RCMP issued an urgent call for two witnesses to come forward to advance their investigation.

According to court records, Macey Girard moved to the Nanaimo region around the summer of 2020 and was in court in late August for a transfer of his probation from Quebec, as well as a breach of his probation orders.

Previous run ins with the law include a July 2019 incident in Montreal where Macey Girard barricaded himself into a home and threatened death and use of explosives after an altercation with a woman at the property.

The actions forced multiple blocks around the apartment to be evacuated with Macey-Girard surrendering a few hours after the start of the situation.

In 2013, Macey-Girard was jailed for two years after he was convicted of luring a 15-year-old girl in Quebec into prostitution and having sexual contact with her.

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