The number of fires in Edmonton that involved homes under construction and vacant properties where infill could be built went up by 66 per cent over four years, according to the city’s fire department.
Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said more than half of them were deemed to have been deliberately set.
“It’s deeply concerning to hear about structure fires happening in our communities,” Ward Métis Coun. Ashley Salvador said in an email earlier this month.
“I know how alarming this can be for neighbours and residents, and would encourage people to report any suspicious activity near construction sites to police.”
Just last week, police said they were investigating a fire that broke out in March as arson. The fire happened at a multi-unit residence under construction in the area of 108th Street and 85th Avenue.
EFRS determined the fire was deliberately set and police said they were looking for a person of interest seen in the area on March 19.
“At this time, police do not believe this fire is linked to any other infill fires or extortion series,” police said in a news release issued Friday.
(Natasha Riebe/CBC News)
From the beginning of 2022 and until the end of 2025, the fire department responded to 290 fires at properties classified as under construction or demolition-vacant. Of those, fire officials say 154 — or 53 per cent — were deliberately set.
Demolition-vacant means a property is empty specifically because it is scheduled for or is currently undergoing destruction and could very well be an infill property in the future, EFRS said.
In 2025, the fire department investigated 92 fires related to such projects, up from 61 fires in 2022.
The trend contrasts with the total number of residential structure fires in the same period, where the overall number dropped to 455 last year from 676 in 2022, a decrease of 33 per cent.
Of the total 2,274 residential structure fires from the beginning of 2022 and until the end of 2025, only 113 — or five per cent — were considered to have been deliberately set, EFRS said.
Project Gaslight
Ward pihêsiwin Coun. Mike Elliott said he wonders how many of the deliberately set fires may be related to Project Gaslight, an Edmonton police probe into a series of extortion attempts targeting South Asian homebuilders that began in fall 2023.
“They’ve made arrests and put out warrants for it. And my understanding as well, [is that] potentially that those files are still ongoing,” he said in an interview earlier this month.
As part of Project Gaslight, police said they were investigating at least 40 incidents of arson, firearms offences and extortions, combined.
Several men have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced in connection with Project Gaslight, and at least two men have been deported, police said at a news availability in March.
Police would not say how many arson charges related to Project Gaslight are included in the data provided by EFRS.
The infill factor
It’s not clear how many of the deliberately set fires outlined by EFRS specifically affected infill projects, as the categories include demolition–vacant and under construction.
“Edmonton Fire Rescue Services does not have a means of knowing what, or if anything, will be constructed on the property after a structure is demolished,” EFRS said in an email. “However, ‘demolition-vacant’ fire coding best captures what could very well be an infill property in the future.”
Infill development in Edmonton has spurred heated debate and complaints from residents over recent years, about the size and makeup of some projects and the zoning rules allowing various types in almost any neighbourhood.
Elliott, elected to Edmonton city council last fall, said the number of deliberately set fires in categories outlined by EFRS raise questions about motive and intent.
The Edmonton Police Service said it could not provide CBC News with a number of arson cases related to infill construction or infill homes, as some cases may be coded under another crime category, depending on the nature of the initial call.
“The EPS is aware of a number of fires related to infill properties in various areas across the city and we want to assure residents in affected neighbourhoods that we are working closely with our partners at EFRS as well as impacted homebuilders,” police said in a statement.
Elliott said he’d like to see more information about the cause of the fires.
“Based on the stats provided, it would appear there is a direct correlation between infills and arson. Additional information and investigation would be required to confirm my speculation.”
The fire department announced publicly last fall that eight fires at homes under construction in older, established neighbourhoods were deemed to be suspicious.
Sean Sedgwick, executive director of the Infill Development in Edmonton Association, IDEA, said the increase is concerning.
“Clearly something [is] driving this change, but we don’t really know what it is,” he said in an interview earlier this month.
“If it is targeted we need to find out who’s doing it and why they’re doing it, and the solutions would probably stem from that.”