York Regional Police are seeking an arson suspect after a vehicle was set on fire in a hospital parking garage in Newmarket.
On Thursday, July 20, at 9:45 p.m. York Regional Police responded to a report of a fire in the parking garage of Southlake Regional Health Centre on the south side of Davis Drive, east of Prospect Street.
Officers found a Porsche vehicle engulfed in flames on the fourth floor of the garage, police said. Central York Fire Services crews extinguished the fire.
According to police, there was extensive damage to the unoccupied vehicle, as well as to the property, but there were no injuries and hospital operations continued normally.
Video surveillance showed an unknown male suspect loitering in the area before he approached the vehicle around 9:45 p.m., at which point he appeared to place an accelerant on the vehicle and it caught fire, police said.
The suspect was then seen leaving on foot and was last seen southbound on Prospect Street. Investigators are releasing images of the suspect obtained from video footage in the area and are appealing to the public for information about this person.
The suspect is described as male, white, 25 to 30 years old, with short brown hair, wearing a red T-shirt and jogging pants with one black leg and one grey leg, as well as black running shoes with red tops and a white Nike swoosh. He was carrying a red and black reusable grocery bag.
The garage fire caused part of the neighbouring street and garage to be temporarily inaccessible, but there were no injuries according to police. Southlake said the fire did not impact operations otherwise.
Central York Fire Services also responded to the scene. The fire services said crews extinguished the fire and ventilated the area using positive-pressure fans. The vehicle was completely damaged, CYFS said, but was not an electric vehicle as rumoured. York Regional Police had initially posted on social media that two vehicles were ablaze and one of them was an electric vehicle.
CYFS said the fire also caused damage to the fourth and fifth floor of the parking garage, including electrical and concrete damage, smoke damage to the walls and water damage from extinguishing efforts. The fire garnered six fire trucks, one command vehicle, 23 firefighters and one chief officer to the scene.
Southlake expressed appreciation to emergency responders on the issue.
"We want to thank York Regional Police and Central York Fire Services for their quick response and thorough investigation into this matter," the hospital said on social media.
York Regional Police is asking anyone with information about this incident or the suspect, or anyone who witnessed something or has a video recording from the area at the time, such as from a dashcam, cell phone or security system, is urged to contact police as soon as possible.
Information can be provided by calling the York Regional Police #1 District Criminal Investigations Bureau at 1-866-876-5423, extension 7142. Anyone wanting to provide information anonymously can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or provide a tip online at www.1800222tips.com.
