Arsonist receives conditional sentence for setting destructive 2016 White Rock fire

A man who admitted to setting a fire that caused millions of dollars in damage and displaced dozens of people in White Rock, B.C., will not serve any jail time.

James Adrian Dyer was given a conditional sentenceTuesdayof two years less a day for the May 15, 2016 arson in the city's Five Corners neighbourhood. He'll serve two years of probation once that sentence is complete.

Dyer pleaded guilty in June to two arson charges for setting the fire, court records show.

The blaze began in an under-construction condo and quickly spread to surrounding homes and businesses, displacing more than 100 residents.

The City of White Rock had to issue a boil water advisory after firefighters drained municipal supplies trying to extinguish the blaze.

Phil Lemire, then-chief of the White Rock Fire Department, told CBC News at the time that it was the biggest and most catastrophic fire he had seen in his decades-long career.

Police have said it was apparent from the beginning that the fire was intentionally set, but it took nearly seven years before charges against Dyer were approved in February 2023.