Charges laid in White Rock's 2016 'Five Corners Fire'
More than six years after flames tore through an apartment building in White Rock, and more than 18 months after police announced they had made arrests in the case, charges have now been laid against a Surrey man, Mounties announced Thursday.
James Adrian Dyer was 18 years old at the time the fire broke out in an under-construction condo building and quickly spread to a nearby apartment complex, displacing around 100 residents, according to White Rock RCMP.
The now-24-year-old is facing seven charges, including arson, police said in a news release.
The blaze occurred on May 15, 2016 in the 15200 block of Pacific Avenue and has become known as the "Five Corners Fire." It caused millions of dollars in damage, and the efforts to fight it affected the city's water supply and quality, according to police.
In July 2021, Mounties announced that they had arrested two men who they suspected of several arsons that occurred in White Rock on the date of the fire.
At the time, police said one of the men was from "the local area" and the other was from outside the Lower Mainland. They did not name either suspect, as charges had not yet been laid. Police did not say Thursday whether Dyer was one of the two suspects arrested in July 2021.
Mounties did not list the other six charges against Dyer in their most recent statement, but online court records indicate that he has been charged with the following:
- Two counts of arson damaging property
- One count of arson in relation to inhabited property
- Two counts of theft
- One count of breaking and entering and committing an indictable offence
- One count of breaking and entering with intent to commit an offence
All of the alleged offences occurred in White Rock.
Dyer is scheduled to make his first court appearance in Surrey on Feb. 23, police said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Maximum payout for LifeLabs class-action drops from $150 estimate to $7.86
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.