Downtown Nanaimo building damaged after garbage can set alight

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Damage to the outside of the building. (Image Credit: Dave Lawrence)

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An exact cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Arrest made

Nanaimo RCMP Res. Cst. Gary O’Brien said officers arrested a male suspect on Tuesday at about 11 a.m.

The suspect remains in custody, however charges have not yet be laid, O’Brien stated.

He said Nanaimo RCMP officers relied on surveillance video footage to identify the suspect, a 56-year-old man.

Police are hoping to speak to a witness who was on scene, phoned 911 to report the fire, but didn’t identify himself, O’Brien said.

“This person was driving a red Tesla, and had pulled into the parking lot, just around the same time the fire was starting,” O’Brien said.

In a statement, Kevan Shaw of the Nanaimo Area Public Safety Association outlined how the situation could have been much worse.

“At all hours of the day and night, people are seen rummaging through the garbage cans left outside the restaurant and gas station. Garbage cans have been set on fire here before, but this is the worst fire damage so far”.

Dave Lawrence, president of the Victoria Crescent Association, called the fire a setback for the neighbourhood and community.

He said the A&W location is an important local amenity and its closure has an impact, including impacted employees.

He said numerous purposely set fires in the area over the past few years have been disruptive for local merchants to deal with.

“We don’t want that in the neighbourhood, we want people to come down here to shop and everyone be lively and to have an eyesore like this for who knows how long now is not the best for the neighbourhood at all,” Lawrence told NanaimoNewsNOW.

He said Victoria Crescent businesses have worked well together to spruce up the block and make it more inviting for the public over the past several years.

“Everyone just kind of bounces back from all off this stuff,” Lawrence said. “To be a downtown business owner you have to be pretty tough and resilient, that’s what we do.”

Victoria Cres. Association president Dave Lawrence owns and operates That 50’s Barbershop on Victoria Cres. (Image Credit: Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

In late June, a woman was arrested for allegedly lighting fire to a tree in the Commercial St./Victoria Cres. area during tinder dry conditions.

Nearby Nana Sushi remains closed after an alleged impaired driver crashed through the front entrance of the Victoria Cres. businesses in mid May.

Damage to the building was largely limited to the exterior between both the A&W and a neighbouring convenience store. (Image Credit: Kevan Shaw)

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