Edmonton police believe fires at 6 under-construction homes in 2-week span were ‘deliberately set’

Edmonton police believe six fires at under-construction homes over the last two weeks were “deliberately set,” but it’s not yet clear if they are connected in any way.

The Edmonton Police Service says the fires between Oct. 18 and Nov. 2 are being investigated by the arson squad. No injuries were reported.

Those six fires are in addition to two others from September that are also believed to be suspicious.

• Sept. 15: 115 Avenue and 48 Street (Highlands)
• Sept. 23: 111 Avenue and 65 Street (Highlands)
• Oct. 18: 80 Avenue and 81 Street (King Edward Park)
• Oct. 21: 90 Avenue and 98 Street (south central Edmonton)
• Oct. 26: 77 Avenue and 116 Street (Belgravia)
• Oct. 29: 74 Avenue and 118A Street (Belgravia)
• Nov. 2: 102 Avenue and 133 Street (Glenora)
• Nov. 2: 72 Avenue and Saskatchewan Drive (Belgravia)

The Edmonton Fire Rescue Services (EFRS) is estimating the eight fires did $8 million in damages.

While police say it’s too early to determine any suspects or possible groups involved – and hence motivation – authorities do not believe the fires are linked to an extortion scheme like Project Gaslight, which targeted Edmonton’s South Asian community in 2023 and 2024.

“At this time, I wouldn’t say that that is the case,” said EPS Deputy Chief Nicole Chapdelaine. “It’s early in the investigation. Our investigators are out there looking at all things. But at this time here, we don’t see any connection to that.”

Chapdelaine explains the fires are connected in their investigation because of “proximity” and “timing.”

“We’re starting to see some some trends and what’s going on,” she said. “So that would lead us to believe that there is someone or some group or something that is responsible for this. And so obviously, when we see these things happening … this is a concern for the community. Our responsibility is to make sure that we protect the community.”

EFRS Chief David Lazenby says it’s too early to speculate on the exact cause of any of the blazes, and could not say if accelerant was found at the scene of any of them. He says the “vast majority” are still under investigation.

“Each fire is viewed as a unique and a separate incident,” Lazenby explained. “And fire investigators, in collaboration with the police, arson investigators, have a methodology or a process to follow in terms of identifying the origin and cause. And that process is applied each and every time. And then from there, you consider, are there connections or similarities between each of those separate incidents.”

CityNews has been on the scene of the blazes over the course of two weeks, and residents have said they are on edge

“That sudden eruption of the fire was just in a matter of seconds, and everything we could see was fire, almost from the house, and the smoke was billowing towards our house,” Belgravia resident Elmie Aloria, who lives next door to the infill house that went up in flames on Sunday, told CityNews the next day.

Two weeks ago, a south central Edmonton resident said she feared the blaze in her neighborhood could have turned fatal.

“If Ann hadn’t been a light sleeper, we might have all died in our sleep,” Heather Blair told CityNews of her neighbour. “She was wakeful enough and called 911.”

Edmonton’s new mayor Andrew Knack called the series of fires a “frightening time for the community.”

“We all want to live in safe, healthy neighbourhoods,” Knack said. “But destroying people’s homes, impacting people’s livelihoods, and holding neighbourhoods in fear is not acceptable. These are people’s homes. It’s close to the holiday season. People’s lives have been turned upside down.”

The mayor says he’s not concerned this rash of suspected arsons will deter people from wanting to call Edmonton home.

“Edmonton is still a great place to build homes,” he said. “We know it’s important to be building housing in the city of Edmonton as we are seeing a large population growth. So I know many people are eager to be part of that.”

Knack, Edmonton police, and firefighters all urged Edmontonians to be vigilant, look out for suspicious behavour, and to review doorbell camera footage from the area of the blazes on the nights the homes went up in flames.

“Obviously, the fact that we’ve convened this meeting, the fires are a cause of concern, and we want to raise it so people are diligent, and they are looking out for one another,” EFRS Chief Lazenby said.

“And if there is evidence available, be it by door cameras or other means, we want that so we can address this situation. We’re all in this together. Just suspicious behaviour, people, vehicles that are maybe not common to the area, things of that nature, anything that just looks untoward.”

Edmontonians can contact police on this file at 780-423-4567 or through Crime Stoppers.