‘Notifying us is crucial:’ SPS Inspector says meth involved in arson arrests Friday

Saskatoon police have released new information regarding the suspicious fires plaguing the city.

During a bi-weekly zoom update Tuesday, Saskatoon police Insp. Cam McBride said officers arrested four people in connection to a fire deliberately set Friday on the 200 block of Ave. L.

Of the four, two were charged. All four were in possession of crystal meth at the time of arrest, according to McBride.

“Crystal meth is a foundational issue in the crime we see. Definitely, as crystal meth increases, so does theft. So does disturbance type complaints in the community. So does mental health concerns,” he said.

The details were “fascinating” to McBride, and wouldn’t have happened without the help from the community, with the information they provided.

“That information came from either a, or more than one witness at the scene, who were able to provide really good, and accurate information. That resulted in our officers being able to arrest two suspects, very closely matching that description,” he said.

As the investigation unfolded, however, officers weren’t able to connect the dots of the offence and the two remaining suspects.

McBride also explained that police have reason to believe the two suspects arrested could be responsible for more than just the fire on Ave. L Friday.

“Right from the beginning, we anticipated that these arsons were being committed by more than one person. That’s certainly panning out to be the case,” he said.

“I would say the potential is there. We don’t have anything that would specifically connect them with other fires, but through investigation, I would not be at all surprised if we found that they were responsible for more than the fire they were implicated with during the weekend.”

Officers are continuing to look for the root cause of the issue, along with common trends or themes. For now, its investigation doesn’t have anything that suggests gang involvement.

“We hope that would come out during the investigation,” McBride said.

Saskatoon police does not have a dedicated arson unit but boasts a small arson task force consisting of highly-trained officers. McBride believes that their team and investigative programs are working, and it’s enough for its current workload.

According to the Saskatoon police online crime map, since Jan. 1, 2020, 60 arson incidents have occurred throughout the city. As of last Monday, Saskatoon Fire says it’s tallied 50 suspicious fires, including structure, vehicle and garbage bin blazes.

McBride urged the community to continue to help at this time, which includes property owners cleaning up “dishevelled properties.”

“Notifying us is crucial. We need information from the community,” he said.

“It’s information that comes from the community, often that breaks the case for us…the same is true in this case.”