KITCHENER -- Waterloo regional police and fire officials are investigating after a string of highly suspicious fires that date back to September.
Police had first reported six suspicious fires, but Waterloo's deputy fire chief told CTV Kitchener on Thursday that the list now includes 10 suspicious fires.
"We are currently investigating a series of carport detached garage fires," said deputy fire Chief Ryan Schubert.
"Secondary to that, we are working collaboratively as I previously mentioned to investigate a recent trailer, two trailers, which are believed to be incendiary in nature, and a series of curbside combustibles in the form of refuse in recycling bins."
All of the fires under investigation happened in Waterloo.
Officials are not connecting all of the incidents, but did issue a timeline of when they happened. The most recent was on Tuesday.
The remains of a burned out trailer was seen beside a building along Northfield Drive earlier this week, blocked off by tape. Investigators were on the scene Wednesday afternoon taking notes. There were no injuries, but there was significant damage.
Another fire was reported on Oct. 3, just before 3 a.m. near Erb Street West. Officials said that fire started when chairs beside a dumpster were set on fire.
Then, on Oct. 10, there was another fire at around midnight on Amos Avenue. In that fire, a recycling bin with shredded paper inside a carpet was lit on fire. That fire spread to a neighbouring home and prompted an evacuation. No one was injured, but it caused around $800,000 in damage.
Five days later, crews responded to another fire on Regina Street. That fire involved a mattress. The next two fires were both garages fires: one on Oct. 20 on Columbia Street West, the other on Oct. 26 on Lester Street.
Fire officials said no one was injured in any of the incidents, but they could have been more serious if the fires had continued to spread.
The deputy fire chief said that officials are noticing a concerning trend in these fires.
