Police Investigating Arsons After Three Masonic Temples in Vancouver Set on Fire

Freemasons were possibly the targets of a coordinated arson attack in Vancouver after three separate temples went up in flames on Tuesday. 

Firefighters were first called to a blaze at Masonic Lynn Valley Lodge in North Vancouver at 6:45 a.m.. Just 15 minutes later,  they were called to another blaze at Duke of Connaught Lodge No. 64 nearby, which partially destroyed the building. Another 15 minutes later and 12 kilometres away, authorities were called to a third fire at Park Lodge Masonic Centre, which caused minor damages to the centre.

According to the CBC, Vancouver police arrested a 42-year-old man in connection to the fires. “Officers were able to swiftly arrest the alleged suspect and we’re thankful that no one was physically harmed,” Const. Tania Visintin said.

The fires prompted police to dispatch officers to temples across the city. 

“We are in the very early stages of this investigation,” said RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Peter DeVries in a statement. “As the investigation unfolds, we will gain a better understanding of the cause of these fires, whether or not they are related, and if the evidence will establish that these were in fact the result of arson.”

A photo of a man with a gas can near what CTV reported to be the Masonic lodge in Vancouver have been posted online. VICE World News has reached out to Vancouver Masonic Service Bureau for comment but has yet to hear back. The Freemasons of Washington released a statement saying “prayers go to all the Brothers of British Columbia and Yukon.” 

Masonic temples have long been the subject of conspiracy theories. There has been an uptick in Freemason conspiracies as the group has been lumped into the pedophilic cabal at the centre of the massive QAnon conspiracy. Just recently a conspiracy was spread by QAnon followers that Joe Biden took his presidential oath not on a Bible but on a book connected to the Masonic Order.

“Sooo has anyone else realized this yet or???? Masonic/Illuminati Bible that Biden swore on yesterday,” reads one post that was shared over 18,000 times. “I do believe a lot of weird and scary shit is gonna go down at some point…”

“The damage is done,” reads the top-rated comment on the post. “We just gotta be prepared for what comes next. Stay woke.” 

In reality, the Freemasons are for the most part a fraternal network of men who hang out together and take part in old, kind of nerdy, rituals. On their website, the Duke of Connaught Lodge No. 64 describes Freemasons as “the largest and oldest fraternal organization in the world. Freemasonry proposes to make good men better by teaching with metaphors from geometry and architecture about building values based on great universal truths.”

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