Arrest made in suspicious Wellington County fires

GUELPH — A 28-year-old man from Guelph-Eramosa is facing six counts of arson in relation to a series of suspicious fires in Wellington County over the past year.

Members of the Wellington County OPP have been investigating a large number of suspicious fires since September 2016. Most of the fires have been at abandoned rural homes in the southern portion of Wellington County.

In a news release on Monday, officers said Justin Nicholas Johnathon Beal was charged in connection with the following fires:

Oct. 14, 2016 house fire at 5230 Third Line, Guelph/Eramosa;

Oct. 19, 2016 house fire at 5292 Third Line, Guelph/Eramosa;

Feb. 3, 2017 shed fire at 6873 Highway 7 Guelph/Eramosa;

Feb. 3, 2017 house and barn fire at 5413 Township Road 3, Guelph/ Eramosa;

June 25, 2017 shed fire at 5324 Wellington Road 125, Erin;

June 25, 2017 house fire 8813 Sideroad 27, Erin.

OPP Const. Joshua Cunningham said Beal was arrested sometime over the weekend in Wellington County by OPP. He was released on bail from a Guelph court on Monday.

“In these instances, we have grounds to believe that Mr. Beal has set these fires,” he said. “We’re still investigating, so if we do find something that links Mr. Beal to any of those other fires, more charges would be before the courts.”

The OPP has a list of more than 24 fires thought to be suspicious in nature. OPP investigators continue to look into these other suspicious fires around the county.

Anyone with information about these six fires or any other suspicious fire is asked to contact Det. Heidi Pautsch or Det. Mark Allen at 519-846-5930 or Wellington County OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Or, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-2228477.