Man charged with intentionally starting fire in Fredericton's Garrison district
Fire heavily damaged wooden building on Carleton Street on March 12
Fredericton police have charged a man with intentionally starting a fire that heavily damaged a historically significant building in the city's downtown earlier this month.
Cole Christopher Harris, 28, has been charged with committing arson with disregard for human life after a fire damaged a green two-storey wooden building at 11 Carleton St. on March 12, police said in a news release issued Thursday.
Harris was arrested without incident on Wednesday and was also charged with breach of probation, the release said.
Police issued a social media post the day of the fire asking for help identifying a man captured on security camera footage in an area that appeared to be near the burned building. His face wasn't visible.
At a news conference Thursday, Fredericton police Chief Martin Gaudet said the man arrested was the person in the footage.
He said footage from several cameras throughout the downtown helped police with their investigation.
"We had a person of interest right from the very beginning," Gaudet said.
Last year, the City of Fredericton installed nine new cameras in the downtown, with four of them described as "public safety cameras," which take footage only viewable by police. Five "community cameras" were installed that take footage that can be viewed by the public.
"The public safety cameras and the cameras that are used on the businesses in the downtown core were invaluable in making the arrest during this investigation," Gaudet said. Police also received tips from the public, he said.
The charge Harris faces under the Criminal Code of Canada is laid when someone is alleged to have intentionally or recklessly caused damage by fire or explosion to a property, and either knows or is reckless with respect to whether the property is inhabited.
The Department of National Defence owns the building, but it was leased by the City of Fredericton and served as office space for staff in its tourism department.
Gaudet said three employees were inside the building when it caught fire, but all of them got out without injury.
Gaudet said Harris will remain in custody until his next court appearance on Tuesday, when a judge will decide if he can be released or remanded pending a potential trial.
No commitment to repair building
The building now sits vacant, with areas including the rear and attic heavily burned. It's windows have also since been boarded up with plywood.
CBC News asked Thursday whether the building will be saved, and National Defence spokesperson Alex Tétreault said the department had no updates to share.
Constructed in 1832, it was known as the militia arms store and was one of four remaining structures from the British establishment of a garrison in Fredericton in 1784, until the withdrawal of Imperial troops in 1869, according to information from Parks Canada.
The area comprising the four buildings was designated a national historic site in 1960 for being an "important military establishment that contributed to the early character and development of New Brunswick."
The Department of National Defence, in a statement on March 15, said it would need to invest resources toward assessing the structure and determining what to do next.
"As a result of the incident, training at the adjacent armoury was halted and ongoing renovation work to the armoury was also delayed," said spokesperson Kened Sadiku, in an email.
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