[REVISION HISTORY]

Saint-Simon Catholic Church arson

Updated 1 time since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-08-27 14:25 UTC → 2026-08-31 15:30 UTC · added ~~removed~~

A historic wooden Catholic church in Saint-Simon, New Brunswick, was destroyed by fire on ~~a Monday morning.~~ Monday, August 24, 2026. The structure, noted as the largest wooden church in the province, was reported to be on fire around 3:30 a.m. Firefighters from the Caraquet Department reported that the building became impossible to save once the flames reached the roof structure. Investigations by the RCMP and the Office of the Fire Marshal determined the fire was “intentionally set” while the building was unoccupied, after motion detectors were triggered inside. A 68-year-old local resident, Gilles Mallet, has been taken into police custody and charged with arson. The RCMP confirmed that Mallet appeared in provincial court on Monday regarding the incident. Local officials and religious leaders described the loss of the 1910s-era structure as a major cultural and community disaster. While some online commentary attempted to link the incident to immigrants, local residents dismissed these claims, stating the local immigrant population is friendly and that no such accusations exist within the community.

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