A pattern emerges
The trouble started on August 28, when two of South Dundas's community parks, Matilda Memorial Park and Iroquois Beach, were targeted overnight. On September 3, two more fires followed: one at the abandoned Iroquois Locks Canteen Building, and a second that once again hit the Iroquois Beach canteen. Fire calls for those blazes came in at approximately 5:30 a.m. No injuries were reported in either fire.
The Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal, South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services, and the Ontario Provincial Police attended, secured the scenes, and are investigating. A related break-in was also reported early on September 3 in neighbouring Edwardsburg-Cardinal, at a waterfront canteen and public washroom facility, causing significant damage to the washrooms, a canteen window, and recently installed security cameras.
Dump trucks destroyed
The most recent and most costly incident happened September 9 at 6:40 a.m., when a fire on a Chess Road property in Hanesville caused significant damage to two dump trucks. Damages are likely to exceed $150,000. It was the fifth suspicious fire in South Dundas within four weeks. The OPP and the Ontario Fire Marshal's office are investigating that fire as well.
Mayor calls for vigilance
Anyone with information, video surveillance, or doorbell camera footage relevant to any of the fires is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122, or Crime Stoppers.
Why it matters here
A string of unsolved arsons targeting public parks, canteens and now heavy equipment is the kind of story that ripples through the wider region, and it comes as Ottawa police already have several active investigations of their own underway, including the SIU probe into sexual assault complaints against Ottawa officers and the search for a suspect linked to indecent acts near Heron Park.
Sources: Cornwall Seaway News, The Record News, Morrisburg Leader
