An Alberta man has been arrested and charged with arson in connection to a devastating 2020 fire at Burnaby Hospital that health officials somehow linked to a "deadly COVID-19 outbreak" during the height of the pandemic.
Yu Yung Wang, 29, faces a charge of "arson, disregard for human life," according to the B.C. Prosecution Service and Burnaby RCMP. Investigators identified Wang as a suspect in the summer of 2023, after he had relocated to Alberta.
The fire erupted on November 15, 2020, on the second floor of the north wing, forcing the hospital's emergency department to close and requiring patient transfers to other areas of the facility. Fraser Health officials stated at the time that the disruption directly contributed to the "rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout the hospital."
Two separate outbreaks occurred in the month following the incident, claiming several lives during a period when Canada's healthcare system was already strained by the pandemic.
"Our investigators were determined to find answers following this incident which had a major impact on our local hospital and community, at a time when our health care system was already coping with the COVID-19 pandemic," said Burnaby RCMP Chief Superintendent Bill Parmar.
Wang is currently in custody in Alberta on unrelated charges while facing the arson allegation. The three-year investigation highlights the persistence of law enforcement in pursuing accountability for incidents with far-reaching public health consequences.
This article is based on reporting from CBC British Columbia.