On Sunday, October 6th Canning, a neighbouring community to Wolfville, suffered a horrific fire on Main Street. 75 firefighters were called in to help put out the fire which took around 4 hours to fully extinguish.
The fire started at around 3 am, originating in a two-storey residential building located beside the local grocery store. The Canning fire chief, Jeffery Skaling noted to the press after the fire that the buildings in the area were quite old and the chance of a fire happening was always something that worried the firefighters.
Luckily no serious injuries resulted from the fire.
The following morning Police said in a news release that while they were currently unsure of the originating cause of the fire, they did believe there to be suspicious activity. They urged people to come forward if anybody had any tips regarding the fire.
On Wednesday morning, the RCMP issued a news release announcing that Canning citizen Noah Norman is facing charges of arson relating to the Sunday fire.
“On October 8, the RCMP searched his home and arrested him without incident.”
Norman appeared in court the next day facing charges with four accounts of Arson along with one charge of Breaking, Entering and Committing an Indictable Offense. He was released from court with conditions and is scheduled to return on November 5th, 2019.
The investigation is currently on-going but for the time being, it is causing concern for the local town members.
In a discussion with an elderly town member who wishes to remain unnamed, she stated “Arson is not a joke and it is heartbreaking one of our own would stoop to that level.”
She then went on to comment on the effects this fire will have on Canning’s economy and its citizens as the town slowly recovers.