A Canadian man who promoted a conspiracy theory that claimed forest fires were deliberately set by the government has been convicted of starting 14 fires himself.
Pyromaniac Brian Paré, 38, pleaded guilty earlier this week to 13 counts of arson and one count of arson with reckless disregard for human life.
“As his main motivation, [he] claiming he did a test to find out if the forest was really dry or not,” said prosecutor Marie-Philippe Charron, according to The Independent.
Prosecutors said one of the fires caused by Paré caused the evacuation of at least 500 homes in Chapais, Quebec, in June 2023, according to the CBC. That fire alone burned 873 hectares — about four square miles — of forest, officials said.
“On May 31 at 8:30 p.m., the town of Chapais issued a mandatory evacuation order following the raging fires, specifically the fire in Lake Cavan as well as the airport fire, two of which were included in the charge and caused. by the accused,” said Public Prosecutor Marie-Philippe Charron during Monday’s trial at the Chibougamau court.
Quebec’s Brian Paré pleaded guilty to starting a series of devastating wildfires that led to hectares of damage and left hundreds of Canadians homeless last year. Brian Pare Veilleux/Facebook An aerial image released by the Societe De Protection Des Forets (SOPFEU) taken on June 29, 2023, shows firefighters flying over a controlled burn area to fight a forest fire in Quebec Province, Canada. Societe De Protection Des Forets/AFP via Getty Images
The Chapais fire was one of the first five Paré fires started between May 31 and June 1, prosecutors said. The excitement began just three days after the Quebec government banned open fires in or around forests due to drier weather conditions.
Investigators found the string of five fires had no natural causes.
In his social media posts, Paré falsely claimed the government had started the fires to convince people about climate change, according to The Independent.
Brian Paré posted his conspiracy theory on his Facebook page and claimed government officials were responsible for the fire. Brian Pare Veilleux/Facebook
Paré became the prime suspect after police investigated the 38-year-old man on June 2 when he was seen in the area where the fire started. Investigators began following his social media posts where he claimed the devastating fires were deliberately set up by the government to trick the public into believing in climate change.
Paré was arrested on September 7 after investigators obtained a warrant and installed a tracking device on his vehicle. Prosecutors said Paré was traced to the location where several of the fires were started.
When he was questioned by the police, Paré admitted that he had started the fire.
Flames reach upwards along the edge of a wildfire as seen from a Canadian Forces helicopter surveying the area near Mistissini, Quebec, Canada June 12, 2023. via REUTERS
“At this point, the accused admitted that he was the one who started the fire and, as his main motivation, claimed that he was doing a test to find out if the forest was really dry or not,” said Charron.
Paré’s defense attorney requested a pre-sentence report, which should have been released in April. He remains in custody pending his sentencing.
Canada’s 2023 wildfire season broke records and burned about 18.4 million hectares, or 45.5 million acres—about the size of North Dakota, CNN reported.
Contributing to last year’s record-breaking fires in Canada were lightning strikes, according to Quebec’s Forrest Fire Protection Agency. About 53% of the fires were caused by lightning, the agency said.
“Extensive drought combined with a devastating line of lightning is responsible for this historic season,” a spokesperson for the Quebec fire agency told CNN.
Winds pushed smoke and toxic ash from Canadian fires raging south and suffocated New York City with unhealthy air quality for days.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
