A St. Thomas man who police say is “a prolific offender” has been arrested and charged after an early morning fire destroyed two buildings Sunday morning in the city’s downtown core.
He has been identified as 44-year-old Joseph Penfound.
The blaze broke out just after 4 a.m. in a vacant building in the 600 block of Talbot Street and has been ruled arson.
At one point a portion of the front wall crashed onto Talbot Street.
No injuries were reported, and all residents of the adjacent Railway City Lofts are safe. Indwell manages the apartment units located on the second floor of the Railway City Transit terminal.
A statement from Indwell advised, “Staff are responding to the fire in downtown St. Thomas this morning. Indwell operates Railway City Lofts, a supportive housing program in the upper floors of the St. Thomas Transit Service Building, which is adjacent to the building which has been destroyed. All Indwell residents are unharmed, and staff are supporting the people who live in this Indwell community. Indwell is fully cooperating with St. Thomas Fire Department and St. Thomas Police Service in their investigation.”
The structure is part of a block of buildings that dates back to the 1880s.
Talbot Street and Centre Street in that block were closed throughout the day and re-opened over the dinner hour. Into the evening, the heavy smell of smoke could be detected around the fire scene.
The owners of The Bistro, located opposite on the north side of Talbot Street, advised they would remain closed throughout the day and reopen when deemed safe.
In addition to the flames and smoke, the two dozen city firefighters had to deal with air temperatures approaching the 30C mark through the morning hours.
Penfound has been charged with:
- Arson
- Fail to Comply with Probation Order
- Possession of a Schedule 1 Substance
Penfound currently has 13 charges before the courts including five counts of failure to comply with probation order, mischief, uttering threats, and false alarm fire.
He was spotted on security video entering and leaving the vacant building and was apprehended around 9 a.m.
Written by Kennedy Freeman and Ian McCallum
