A 37-year-old man was arrested in connection with the forest fires which raged for several days at the beginning of last June, near Chibougamau.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) arrested Brian Paré, a resident of Chibougamau, during the day on Thursday.
“A careful investigation” which lasted several months led to the arrest of the suspect.
He appeared briefly at the Chibougamau courthouse this afternoon. The 30-year-old faces two counts of arson.
The Crown objected to the release of the accused who therefore remains detained. The case was postponed until Monday by Judge Jean-François Poirier. If convicted, the suspect faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Several fires
According to the indictment sent to the Journal, the facts with which Mr. Paré is accused took place “on or around May 31” last.
The arsonist is accused of having “caused by fire or an explosion” damage to property that does not belong to him in its entirety, namely a fishing cabin.
The Chibougamau and Chapais sector was hit hard by forest fires covering an area of hundreds of thousands of hectares. It is still unknown what start of the fire was the work of Brian Paré.
The Municipality of Chapais was the first in Quebec to request the evacuation of part of its citizens due to forest fires, on May 31. The City of Chibougamau was forced to order a complete evacuation of its approximately 7,500 residents on June 6.
Recidivist
The man who is believed to be at the origin of several fires is well known to law enforcement. He faced several criminal charges, including assault with a weapon, human trafficking, threats, theft and carrying a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Brian Paré is also very active on social networks. He reacted almost every day during the period when forest fires raged throughout Quebec.
The thirty-year-old shared his way of thinking on more than one occasion on the management of fires by the government and SOPFEU.
He also questioned the need to evacuate the town of Chibougamau since, according to him, the latter was “in no way in danger”.
