A 52-year-old man was arrested and charged with arson after police officers using a drone spotted him setting a vehicle on fire at Cochrane Pond Park near Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador, on July 5, 2026. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) said the drone was on patrol around 8:15 a.m. when the suspect, Jason Jonathan Courtney, was seen lighting the fire.
The RNC had been stepping up patrols in the area after a string of suspicious fires. The drone captured video of Courtney during the act, and officers on the ground quickly moved in and made the arrest without anyone getting hurt. The St. John’s Regional Fire Department put out the blaze.
Courtney appeared in provincial court on July 6, facing one count of arson. His case was put over until July 9, 2026, for an update. Police are currently looking into eight suspicious fires at the park, including three that happened the day before and involved empty motorhomes or campers. The July 5 fire was the fourth one in just two days.
Cochrane Pond Park, a campground with 184 sites about 20 kilometres west of St. John’s, has been closed since April 2025 after the City of St. John’s ordered everyone to leave because of serious fire and life safety concerns. Before that, fires there in December 2024 and January 2025 had already raised alarms. The provincial government ended the private operator’s licence in November 2025.
Platoon Chief Mike Hall of the St. John’s Regional Fire Department said the fires could have been much worse. “The lack of wind kept the fires at bay but had it been up, we would likely be talking about a forest fire today,” he said. The area sits close to the Trans-Canada Highway and Paddy’s Pond, so a brush fire could have spread quickly.
On the same day as the arson arrest, RNC drone operators spotted a 68-year-old man walking along a road in the Cochrane Pond area carrying a .303 rifle and a BB gun. He was arrested on firearms charges without incident. Police say drones have become a valuable tool for keeping an eye on the area and responding fast when something looks wrong.
