A 27-year-old man has been charged with arson in connection with two fires in southeast Saskatoon on Tuesday evening.
Firefighters were called to the 2400 block of Cairns Avenue at about 6:15 p.m., after a detached garage caught fire.
While en-route, one of the fire engines encountered a man standing in the road “attempting to impede response to the fire,” the Saskatoon Fire Department said in a news release. The crew drove around him.
When firefighters arrived, a bystander was trying to put out the flames with a garden hose.
Crews got the fire under control within about 20 minutes, using water and foam, Saskatoon Fire said.
A fire investigator determined the blaze, which also affected a nearby fence, was incendiary. Estimated damages are $10,000.
While on scene, a neighbour told firefighters that his recycling bin had been set on fire, and he put it out with a fire extinguisher.
Shortly after police were called to the garage fire at about 6:20 p.m., they were told residents saw a man lighting fires in a nearby alley, near the 2300 block of McKinnon Avenue South, Saskatoon police said in a news release.
He was arrested without incident and charged with two counts of arson.
The city has had more suspicious fires this year than in all of 2019.