Police arson unit probes Ottawa fire allegation in heat of anti-mandate protest

Published February 7, 2022 at 12:24 pm

OTTAWA — Tenants in downtown Ottawa say they discovered what appears to be an attempt to start a fire in the front lobby of their apartment building, which has been besieged by anti-vaccine mandate protesters for more than a week.

Matias Munoz says residents of the apartment building seven blocks south of Parliament Hill were already at their wits’ end Saturday night as the noise of the protest blared through their homes for the ninth night in a row.

He says when he came downstairs Sunday morning, he saw the carpet and floor were charred, and that there were blackened fire-starter bricks strewn across the lobby.

Munoz says the building manager showed him surveillance video, which he says appears to show two men light a package of the bricks in the lobby and secure the front door handles together before leaving through the side door around 5 a.m. Sunday.

He says the video also shows a different man enter the building and put the fire out a short while later.

The Ottawa Police Service says the arson unit is investigating but cannot provide any further details.