Teenage Arson Suspects Snapchat Fire Set in Historic Theater

Snapchat has really grown from the days when it was used primarily to send nudes: take, for instance, when Montreal teenagers allegedly used it this weekend to document their participation in committing arson.

Montreal police say there are three underaged suspects in the arson case—two of whom they have identified. They believe the teens may have participated in a fire set at Snowdon Theatre, an abandoned, deteriorating two-floor cinema that was built in the 1930s. At different points in its history, the theater showed both X-rated and Charlie Chaplin films.

At 4:30 PM on Saturday, which is kind of early to be committing arson if you ask us, 90 firefighters responded to smoke coming out of the back of the derelict theater, located on Décarie Boulevard in the neighborhood of Snowdon.

''For now, we will put our efforts into questioning the two minors, extract as much information as we can," Abdullah Emran of the Montreal police told CBC.

In one of the Snapchat photos in question, which were also posted on a Montreal real estate forum, someone stands over a pile of foam blocks perched on a makeshift platform. In another, the pile of foam shown in the previous photo is on fire. And in a wide shot taken from farther back, the fire appears to have grown amongst the numerous graffiti tags and red Solo cups littering the decrepit theater floor.

The theater sustained heavy damage. Police currently are still trying to confirm if the photos are authentic, but say that the fire was "suspicious" due to the fact that there were no utilities in the building, which had last been rented in 2013 when its tenants were evicted because of structural safety concerns.

Follow Allison Elkin on Twitter.