Toronto police investigating 6 downtown fires; suspect arrested
Posted August 23, 2017 6:09 am.
Last Updated August 23, 2017 4:19 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto police have one man in custody after six separate fires were seen just blocks apart in the downtown core. No one was hurt.
There was a small fire at the doors of the Church of the Holy Trinity around 5 a.m. on Wednesday. That church is tucked behind the Eaton Centre at 19 Trinity Sq.
Just blocks away, on Shuter Street near Church Street, a mattress was set on fire. The other fires were all in garbage cans or recycling bins: One at George and Gerrard streets, another on O’keefe Lane, south of Gerrard and east of Yonge Street; one at Gerrard and Jarvis Street, and the sixth at Mutual and Gould streets.
The locations are less than two kilometres apart. The fires were set between 4 a.m. and 5:15 a.m.
Emergency crews said at the Church of the Holy Trinity, the fire was set in garbage on the front steps of the 173-year-old building. The heavy wooden doors then caught fire, filling the foyer with heavy smoke. Firefighters had to force open the doors to ventilate the building.
Jordan Omar Cuthbert, 32, of Toronto is facing six counts of arson, five counts of mischief under $5,000, and one count of mischief over $5,000.
