The Edmonton Police Service is considering the possibility two more fires at under-construction infill homes are connected to a string of arsons in established central neighbourhoods in recent weeks.
Over the weekend, firefighters were called to fires at two infills on opposites sides of the North Saskatchewan River: a blaze west of downtown in the Glenora neighbourhood, and another one along overlooking the river in the Belgravia area.
That fire at 7139 Saskatchewan Dr., where a single family skinny infill home was being built, broke out around 11:15 p.m. Sunday.
Belgravia has seen three fires at under-construction homes recently and it’s left 30-year resident Doug Wylie upset.
Wylie was in bed already when the blaze broke out and said his wife got a text in their neighbourhood group chat about another fire.
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“It’s a little surreal,” said Wylie, who said all the fires occurred with a 500-metre radius.
“We’ve had three major fires taking out at least five houses,” he said.
“One is just a fire, two was weird, three is unsettling.”
Nobody was in the house when the fire broke out and it doesn’t appear to have spread to neighbouring homes.
Wylie said Belgravia is a tight-knit community and people are worried.
“It’s causing a lot of consternation among people who we know who are building properties right now, and they’re very concerned.”
Alyssa Lau also lives in Belgravia and has watched the west-facing infill home being built all summer along Saskatchewan Drive.
“It’s really sad because I know that it’s, like, a family who’s looking to live here,” Lau said, adding her family also built their new home in the neighbourhood a couple of years ago.
“If this had happened to my house I would be so, so upset. So it’s been scary, all the recent fires.”
Builders are also scared both for their properties and their own personal security. On Monday, Global News spoke to a builder whose identity is being protected for that reason.
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“Scary — very uncertain about what’s gonna happen,” the builder said. “This shouldn’t be happening. This is our home, this is my home city. Sad to see this is happening in our neighbourhood.”
The builder has hired more security to protect their construction sites.
“That’s going to incur more cost to us, but this is the environment we’re in right now.”
The builder acknowledged the fires aren’t just a financial headache that will affect insurance premiums and the cost of construction.
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“They’re not only impacting the builders, they are impacting the people that are going to be moving into the house, the neighbours.
“Imagine a little kid or a family living next door — fire happens and they’re capturing that. That’s very, very sad.”
At the request of Edmonton police, the builder also placed cameras on their construction sites.
The city said the blaze in Belgravia on Sunday took firefighters nearly two hours to bring under control.
The weekend fires come after police on Friday said they were seeking tips and videos in a series of suspicious fires.
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The fires, believed by investigators to be intentionally set, occurred over the past two weeks in three established communities just south of the river: King Edward Park, Strathcona and also Belgravia.
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“They’re targeting single family, they’re targeting multi-family, they are targeting new construction infill,” the builder said of the recent blazes. “It’s not safe to be a neighbour of a construction project as well right now.”
In 2023, the City of Edmonton changed zoning bylaws to allow for more multi-unit buildings up to three storeys in all neighbourhoods. The aim was to encourage a variety of development to be built more easily in residential areas.
Since then, there’s been mixed reaction to the increase in multi-unit buildings replacing single-family homes.
“There’s a housing shortage in Canada,” the builder said. “People are living on the streets because there is not enough places to live. We needed more builders. We need more buildings. We need places to stay so the rents can be affordable.”
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But not everyone welcomes changes to the look and feel of their neighbourhoods.
Infill ended up being a contentious topic during the recent municipal election campaign after residents of established communities expressed concerns with property values, not enough parking, predatory developers, quality of builds and housing affordability.
Some Edmonton homeowners in established, upscale areas like Crestwood and Glenora have even gone so far as to explore placing restrictive covenants on their properties to prevent future development.
The legally binding agreement goes on a property title and limits how a property is used or developed, even after it is sold to a new owner.
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Edmonton police have not said if Sunday’s fire is linked to the previous Belgravia blazes. Regardless, Wylie said he’s worried for his safety.
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“There’s no way this is a coincidence — something really unsettling is going on.”
Wylie said it’s time for a conversation about it with city hall.
“I think the city has to listen. Like, this could be part of the greater infill problem — who knows, maybe it’s somebody who’s upset?”
Two skinny infill homes and a neighbouring bungalow near 102 Avenue and 133 Street in the Glenora neighbourhood were damaged in a fire on Nov. 2, 2025.
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The other fire on Sunday in the Glenora area broke out around 1:30 a.m. near 102 Avenue and 133 Street.
Two nearly complete skinny homes were heavily damaged and at least one of them ended up being torn down later Sunday.
A neighbouring bungalow was also damaged. No one was injured in that fire.
Last spring, a 16-unit infill development was deliberately set ablaze in Crestwood, an affluent neighbourhood across the North Saskatchewan River from Belgravia.
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That arson caused significant damage to an under-construction building that some community members had been fighting.
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