A Quebec man who posted conspiracy theories online — including that forest fires were being deliberately set by the government — has pleaded guilty to igniting fires that forced hundreds from their homes during last summer’s brutal Canadian fire season.
On Monday Brian Paré, 38, pleaded guilty in Quebec to 13 counts of arson and one count of arson with disregard for human life. The CBC News out of Montreal reported that prosecutor Marie-Philippe Charron said two of the 14 fires he lit caused the evacuation of 500 homes in Chapais, a community about 425 kilometres northwest of Quebec City.
“On May 31 at 8:30 p.m., the town of Chapais issued a mandatory evacuation order due to the raging fires,” Charron said, “in particular the fire at Lake Cavan as well as the airport fire, two fires that are included in the charges and were caused by the accused.”
Residents of Chapais could not return home for three days.
The Guardian reported that fighting that fire drew resources away from some of the nearly 700 fires in the province last summer. Most of those fires were ignited by lightning. The largest fire set by Paré, the Lake Cavan Fire, was one of the first in a series of five that he set between May 31 and June 1 just days after the provincial government had issued a ban on open fires because of dry weather conditions and fire danger.
Provincial police and first responders noted that some of the fires had no possible natural cause, and evidence indicated that some of the fires were intentionally set. Police first spoke to Paré on June 2; he had been seen in the area near a fire’s ignition point, and was considered a witness. Though he denied starting the fires, Charron said Paré demonstrated interest in fires in an interview, which led police to suspect him.
And that month he began posting on facebook about Quebec’s record-breaking season; among his posts were claims that the fires were intentionally set by the government to trick people into believing in climate change. Police set a tracking device on Paré’s vehicle, and it tracked him at locations where other fires were ignited.
Paré was arrested on September 7 and admitted to starting nine of the fires. He said he was doing tests to learn whether the forest was really dry or not, according to the prosecutor.
So he was doing tests to see if the forest was really dry? I guess now he is doing tests to see if prison is really fun. Let us know how that experiment turns out.
Jail for the rest of his life
We cannot afford this destruction to our planet.
I’m not too worried he is destroying our planet, David. I am angry he is endangering firefighters and local residents.
Difficult to understand an arsonist.
If I knew where the next fire would start, I’d pitch my tent and sit there with 2 buckets of water: one for the fire, and one for the firebug. So much is destroyed; so much more than can ever be repaid. Those homes are the life-work of so many family generations; so many hopes up in smoke. We’re ALL glad I’m not the judge.
When I hear of someone claiming that the government is starting the fires I am reminded of how many (and it’s not a small number and by no means confined to particular regions) people contact the PIO line for my team with the claim that they know “we” are starting the fires. I used to laugh these off after hopefully soothing the caller and assuring them that we aren’t the culprits, however in more recent years these claims are much more numerous and they are accompanied by threats in various forms. It’s a constant reminder to maintain my (everyone’s) situational awareness when working in the woods as a single resource. Sad, but just a reality of the times.
As a retired wildfire investigator I send a well done to the Investigators and fire service personnel