A 44-year-old man is facing numerous charges after he allegedly stabbed someone and then barricaded himself inside an Oshawa home, which he set subsequently set fire to.
The stabbing happened at a rooming house on Simcoe Street near Adelaide Avenue late Sunday night.
The victim sustained non-life threatening injuries as a result.
Police say that the suspect barricaded himself inside a room following the incident.
Officers attended the scene and contained the area but the male refused to leave.
Speaking with CP24 at the scene on Monday morning, Deputy Fire Chief Todd Wood said that police then notified firefighters that there was a male inside the residence “saying he was going to light the house on fire and also that he had some weapons.”
Wood said that a fire truck then attended the scene and was put on standby. He said that the blaze broke out at around 1:20 a.m., though crews were not able to enter the building immediately as the suspect initially remained inside.
“Our crews were not able to get in because the individual was still in there and there was the threat of weapons but just before 2 a.m. Durham Regional Police took the suspect into custody and our crews were able to make entry into the residence,” he said. “They did a quick primary search, they found nothing and then it was determined that this fire was probably best fought from a defensive position at the exterior.”
The suspect was not injured in the fire. He is facing five charges, including assault with a weapon, weapons dangerous, arson, uttering threats and failure to comply with recognizance.
The Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in to probe the circumstances of the fire.
