PORT ALBERNI — Mounties in the Alberni Valley have arrested one person after two suspicious fires in the community.
RCMP report a 38-year-old man is facing two counts of arson after being found connected to a brush fire set on the outskirts of the community earlier this week.
Court records show Jordan Donald Munro is facing two charges of arson damaging property out of Port Alberni on May 13, and remains in custody as of May 15.
These recent allegations have yet to be proven in court.
On Wednesday, May 13, around 10:00 p.m., police responded to Hwy. 4, near Coombs Country Candy, after receiving reports of a man deliberately setting fire to bushes in the area.
The fire was quickly doused, however police were able to later connect the individual to a second suspicious fire over recent days.
The suspect appeared in court on Thursday, May 14, and remains in custody ahead of future appearances on May 19.
Munro has previous criminal convictions on his record, including possession of stolen property over $5,000 out of Revelstoke in 2020, and a breach of release order shortly after, in which a warrant had to be issued for his arrest after failing to show in court.
The Coastal Fire Centre has responded to multiple wildfire starts around Nanaimo recently, including a pair off Nanaimo Lakes Rd., quickly extinguished by fire crews, with humans the suspected cause.
Dry and warm conditions at the start of May led to the earliest campfire ban in recent memory, only for those prohibitions to be scaled back slightly this week to allow small campfires after a stretch of more favourable weather.
However, weather experts are predicting warmer and drier weather conditions to persist for the rest of the year, with drought concerns increased due to the low amount of mountain snowpack, with Vancouver Island only having 27 per cent of its average levels as of May 1.
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