York Regional Police (YRP) say three Markham businesses were targeted in overnight arsons on Wednesday.
The first incident occurred at a business on Highway 7 East and Ninth Line at around 4:30 a.m.
Emergency crews responded to a call about a fire in the area.
“Once on scene, Markham Fire and Emergency Services had already extinguished a small fire which resulted in minimal damage,” a police release states.
A second fire was reported shortly after at a business in the Markham Road and Castlemore Avenue area. That fire was also quickly extinguished before significant damage could occur.
No suspect descriptions are available for the first two incidents.
At 5:51 a.m., police received reports about a fire at a third business, this time in the Markham Road and 16th Avenue area, which resulted in minimal damage.
“In this incident, a black sport utility vehicle was observed circling the plaza numerous times as the fire was beginning to ignite,” police explained. “The vehicle was last seen travelling westbound on 16th Avenue at a high rate of speed.”
Investigators say in all three incidents an accelerant was used to ignite the fire.
“All businesses were unoccupied, and there were no reported injuries,” police added. “It is unknown at this time if all three arsons are associated to one another.”
