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This article was published 10/8/2011 (3338 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An early-morning fire gutted a garage and at least two vehicles at 220 Thompson Dr. in St. James Wednesday.

The city's summer of arson shows no signs of cooling down as a top-ranking fire official warned Wednesday the number of suspicious fires is rising and they're now hitting the suburbs.

"There is definitely an escalation in arson and incendiary incidents in the city of Winnipeg," said Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service (WFPS) Deputy Chief Ken Sim, who called the fire-setting "very dangerous."

There have been 97 arsons in Winnipeg since the beginning of July, police said. The most recent were four fires in St. James early Wednesday.

Most of the fires have burned only property such as garbage bins, garages, vehicles and houses. But Sim warned on Wednesday the fires, most of which are overnight, could injure sleeping people and the arsonists would be held liable.

"When individuals are setting fire to a structure, in many of our neighbourhoods, the garages and outbuildings are close to the home," he said. "When they're doing these activities in the wee hours of the morning and people are asleep in bed, if that house were to catch fire, you are putting people at risk, and they will be culpable for those actions."

Alex Forrest, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, noted firefighters are being hurt as they battle to keep the arsons under control.

"This is turning into a real summer from hell," Forrest said.

Police said the latest set of fires started Wednesday at about 4:30 a.m. with a blaze in a bin near a business on the 2600 block of Portage Avenue, followed by a garage fire at about 4:50 a.m. on Thompson Drive near Nightingale Road, which caused $100,000 in damage. The garage and two vehicles were "a total loss," Sim said.

A third fire began at about 6:30 a.m. at the Sturgeon Heights Community Centre on Rita Street and caused $5,000 in damage to the structure.

Facility manager Barry Chambers arrived at the community centre early to deal with the aftermath of the fire, which started in boxes of ductwork supplies.

While the fire mostly smouldered, ash was pulled so thickly throughout the ventilation system that parts of the building may have to be gutted and reinstalled.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Barry Chambers said neighbours are worried following a fire at the Sturgeon Heights Community Centre.

Chambers said the centre's neighbours have rallied to support the site -- and take stock of their own safety.

"They're worried of something happening to them," he said, but added he suspects the arsonist is not one of the neighbourhood kids he knows.

"If the (arsonists) are from the immediate area, I'll be very surprised."

There was also another fire on Buchanan Boulevard, involving some garbage near a garage, Sim said.

"Quite frankly, it's relatively uncommon in that area, and we're seeing that escalation of arson pushing out further into the suburbs," Sim said.

Early Tuesday morning, a possible arson broke out at a condo complex on the 200 block of Fairlane Avenue, causing $600,000 damage.

Early Sunday morning, a fenced-in compound at the Assiniboine Golf Course was set on fire, causing $130,000 in damage to motorized golf carts inside. Minutes later, firefighters headed to two fires on the 400 block of Winchester Street, where a garage and a vehicle burned.

Police haven't announced any arrests in connection with this week's fires.

Last week, police arrested Brandon Sutyla, 20, in connection with 18 fires that burned in a three-month period, all except one in the Fort Rouge area. Sutyla's lawyer, Martin Glazer, has said his client has the mental acumen of a 10-year-old.

"Common sense should tell the public and the police that since the fires are continuing and my client is in custody, they've got the wrong guy," Glazer said. "I predicted that the fires would continue after my client was arrested, and I've been proven correct."

Sim, the deputy fire chief, said it's "hard to speculate" on whether they're dealing with copycat arsons, but the fires are different and in different areas.

"In Fort Rouge, very clearly, we were dealing with somebody that had a propensity towards garages and outbuildings, and in this case (in St. James), it appears to be construction material, bulky waste, the sort of things that we'd encourage the public to clean up in the public alleyways and wherever they possibly can. Move them away from any buildings that may be combustible and just alleviate and remove the opportunity for anybody to set fires," he said.

The St. James homeowner whose garage was hit on Wednesday seemed resigned to making the best of a bad day, after being awoken at 4:30 a.m. by a neighbour who banged on his door. He rushed to his garage and tried to douse the flames, which by then had spread to his snowmobiles and vintage Buick.

Moments later, fire crews arrived.

The resident said he wasn't too worried the arson spree would get out of hand.

"It's something like the stock market," he shrugged. "You get the copycats.... It just goes up and down."

-- with files from Melissa Martin and William Burr

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca

Arsons last year versus this year:

Month 2010 2011

June 52 56

July 39 78

August 31 19

-- Winnipeg Police Service