From cars to garbage cans, anything has the chance of being lit up in Canada’s largest native reserve.
Six Nations of the Grand River, which lies just outside Brantford, Ontario, holds the province’s highest rate of arson with average rate of 765 incidents per 100,000 people over the past six years
Based on an analysis of Statistics Canada data, residents of Six Nations are 43 times more likely to experience an act of arson than those living anywhere else in the province.
According to the Criminal Code of Canada, arson occurs when a person intentionally or recklessly causes damage by fire or explosion to a property, whether or not that person owns the property. It is an indictable offence and if someone else is harmed, an accused can liable for life imprisonment.
The reserve has been in the news as of late, with its arson problem being far from burnt-out. In just the past week, police and fire crews responded had to respond to two separate fires on the reserve.
These fires occurred on October 1 and 3, with both dealing with cars being lit on fire. Each incident has since been labelled as arson, and is being investigated.
Suspicious car fire latest in string of arsons on Six Nations http://t.co/UY7sOGV7jr
— Fire Prevention Week (@FirePrevention) October 4, 2015
Six Nations fire truck in collision responding to suspicious fire https://t.co/ZqWxQVV3Jd
— Brant News (@brantnews) October 1, 2015
Inspector Dave Wiedrick of the Brantford Police blames boredom and lack of education for the high number of arson in Six Nations and the surrounding areas. With not much to do, says Wiedrick, people turn to fire to pass the time.
“If you compare Brantford to Halton Hills [a similar sized town near by], you’ll see we have lower income, lower education, and lower city interaction,” says Wiedrick about the Brantford area. “This causes petty crimes to be high.”
Wiedrick says most fires lit by arsonists in their area tend to be small but according to Inspector, the damage can still be huge. Wiedrick says he fears that someone will eventually get hurt by all these little fires.
And the October 1 fire almost did that.
While en route to put out the car fire, a Six Nations fire department truck swerved off the road and crashed into the ditch. While the firefighters in the truck walked away safely, their truck did not do so well. The department’s truck is now out of commission, and for a small, volunteer-based fire department already low on funding, being down a truck can be devastating.
The October 1 incident shows that although the fires in Six Nations are minuscule and generally victimless, they still pose a threat to those putting them out.
Scared by the incident, Six Nations Fire Chief Matthew Miller raised alarm for his local firefighters.
“It is feared that with the increase in fire activity as well aggressiveness of the incidents which is now occurring that it is only a matter of time before a member of the public or a firefighter is injured,” Miller said in a press release.
Firefighters from neighbouring districts have agreed to send their help when needed.
Chief Fire Prevention Officer Dwayne Armstrong of Brantford Fire Department said over the phone that each of the bordering departments have aid agreements. Brantford Fire Department and other departments will send out help when the fire is near the border or if the main department has been depleted of resources.
While more resources and extra aid helps the fire get put out, it is only a temporary solution since it does not solve the bigger problem, which is the prevention of fire in the first place.
However, as Insp. Wiedrick notes, “How do you prove someone started a fire when the fire ruins all your evidence? ”