Two Edmonton men are being praised for their heroism in taking down a man who lit 13 vehicles on fire near Whyte Avenue Friday evening.

A video circulating on social media shows the suspect arsonist throwing gasoline from a jerry can onto vehicles and lighting them on fire before crossing 104 Street to a Starbucks where he was apprehended through a citizen’s arrest before police arrived on scene. The man was arrested soon after by police and taken into custody.

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Charges are pending as of Saturday afternoon as police continue to investigate, EPS spokeswoman Carolin Maran said in an email.

The two men who responded to the slew of arsons — characterized online as “Hawaiian shirt guy” and “2×4 guy” — were able to diffuse the situation and control the man in the coffee shop until police arrived.

‘This is better than nothing’

2×4 guy, or Jeff Halaby as he is more commonly known, was inside his new restaurant Spotlight Cabaret around 9 p.m. for a pre-opening menu tasting when an employee saw the man lighting vehicles on fire.

“I was so scared that one of those cars was going to explode because it was right in front of the restaurants across the street,” he said.

Not wasting a beat, Halaby said he ran down the stairs to go outside, but then stopped to see if there was something in the newly-renovated venue that could be of use.

“I thought, well I can’t go out there without anything in my hand,” he said. “I found a four-foot piece of baseboard and thought well, this is better than nothing. I ran across the street to cut him off because I didn’t want him to continue walking closer to Whyte Avenue.”

And thus 2×4 guy was born. But Halaby said he doesn’t see himself as a hero.

“I don’t feel like I was any kind of hero. I feel like there was a lot of people on Whyte Avenue yesterday who had the same instinct that I did,” he said. “I just kept thinking this guy can blow up a car. That’s all that was in my head.”

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‘He reacted so fast’

But Spotlight Cabaret co-owner Aimée Beaudoin said his immediate response was an act of heroism to her and the 45 new staff members in the restaurant.

“He reacted so fast and was down there,” she said. “I really applaud Jeff for being a hero and now our whole staff knows that Jeff’s got your back.”

Running out of the restaurant with the baseboard, Halaby headed for The Bamboo Ballroom across 104 Street to cut off the accused and was yelling at him to stop. The man then lit a moving SUV on fire before he crossed the street, threw the jerry can down and headed for the Starbucks, Halaby said.

Halaby said he followed him toward the coffee shop and before he arrived the man was already taken down by the other social media famous resident.

“The Hawaiian shirt guy did not need my help. Once Hawaiian shirt guy had him on the ground, he wasn’t going anywhere,” Halaby said.

Photo by Ian Kucerak / Postmedia

‘He poured gasoline all over my hood’

Jessica Venne was driving down 104 Street in her red Ford Escape when the suspect poured gasoline on her hood and lit the car on fire.

“I noticed on my right there was a ton of smoke and I kind of very, very briefly saw flames on the sidewalk and that was all I could see” as she pulled up to the intersection off Whyte Avenue, Venne said. “Then there was a man standing on the sidewalk with a jerry can in his hand and there was a bunch of people around him with their arms up trying to calm him down and before I knew what was happening he turned around.

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“Inside me I went, ‘No, don’t you dare,’ and he poured gasoline all over my hood and lit it instantly.”

Venne said she was in pure shock, but responded quickly by trying to catch wind while rounding the corner onto Whyte Avenue, which helped extinguish the flames. She then pulled over in front of a shop and poured water over the hood with help from her friend in the passenger seat.

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“I basically fell to my knees and had a little cry because I was just in shock,” she said. “It was very scary to be in my vehicle with my hood on fire.”

With the fire going out quickly, Venne said there was very little damage to the SUV, just slight discolouration.

A number of other vehicles in the area had fire damage to the front and rear wheels, but no one was injured.

A car belonging to Spotlight’s wine representative for the menu tasting was lit on fire, slightly melting the front hood, Beaudoin said.

The incident was completely out of the ordinary, Beaudoin said, and she is grateful there were no injuries because it could have been a lot worse.

“It is scary that it’s that easy for somebody to attack,” she said. “Luckily, the fires went out right away.”