The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) has charged a 20-year-old man for allegedly intentionally setting brush fires in St. John’s while a fire ban is in place and the province grapples with wildfires .
On Tuesday, the St. John’s Regional Fire Department responded to a number of brush fires in downtown St. John’s within blocks of one another.
No injuries or structural damage were reported. The suspect is set to appear in a Newfoundland court on Thursday to face charges of arson with the disregard of human life.
Mark Lawlor, Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial fire duty officer, says the largest of the province’s out-of-control wildfires continues to gain ground, helped by dry, windy conditions.
Lawlor says the fire near the coastal town of Kingston, N.L., on the Avalon Peninsu