Three Grande Prairie homes hit by arson

Three Grande Prairie houses and a van were badly damaged early Sunday morning by fires police say someone lit deliberately.

Police and firefighters were called to a house in the Highland Park area at around 3 a.m. Sunday, where a van and a house were on fire. People inside the house escaped unharmed, RCMP said in a news release.

Shortly after the fire was out, emergency responders saw a second fire about a block away.

They found an unoccupied house on fire. That blaze spread to the roof of the neighbouring house to the north, said RCMP Cpl. Shawn Graham. People in the last house got out uninjured.

Evidence suggests all fires were set deliberately, RCMP said.

The second house, which was under renovation, will need to be rebuilt, and the third house may also need to be demolished, Graham said. An estimate of the value of the damage was unavailable.

RCMP ask anyone with information about the blazes to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or the Grande Prairie detachment at 780-830-5700.