Downtown Orillia arsonist pleads guilty in $6M fire that destroyed heritage building

The Brampton man, battling homelessness, before setting fire at the doorstep of an Orillia building that went up in flames, has pleaded guilty.

The Brampton man, battling homelessness, mental health challenges and addiction, before setting fire at the doorstep of an Orillia building that went up in flames, has pleaded guilty.

Brandon, Costa, 35, was convicted of committing arson with disregard for human life and failing to comply with a release order that barred him from having a lighter on him.

Costa admitted to starting the fire that ultimately reduced the heritage building to rubble when it was deemed structurally compromised following the fire and efforts by fire crews to extinguish the flames using seven million litres of water.

The court heard Costa, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car crash in 2016, ran away from home in Brampton where he lived under the care of his parents.

It was in January, while homeless and addicted to drugs, Costa said he was kicked out of a warning centre and in search of shelter from frigid conditions and temperatures plummeting to 27 below zero the morning of January 21.

Costa, the court heard, settled on the area of Peter and Mississaga streets, starting the fire at the doorstep of the Three Birds Salon just before 6 a.m. The entire incident was captured on surveillance video.

Firefighters rushed to the scene where flames spread quickly.

The fire, the Crown told the court, caused more than $6-million damage, and affected 13 units that housed small businesses including the salon, art galleries, a fashion boutique and longtime comic store, Dr. Comics.

With his father in attendance inside the Bradford courtroom to support him, Costa took responsibility for the fire, telling Justice Stacey Nichols he attempted to put the fire out when he kicked snow on it prior to leaving the area.

The court heard Costa was arrested hours later when police identified him in the surveillance video. Costa was released from custody under several conditions that included not possessing a lighter. Five days later, the court heard, Costa was found in the washroom of a nearby shelter, while doing drugs with a lighter in hand.

The Crown asked Costa to be sentenced to 18 months behind bars. The defence is instead seeking a conditional sentence for 12 months that includes house arrest an under his parents’ roof.

Costa’s lawyer Peter Kott described his client as a “homeless, drug-addicted man” with a traumatic brain injury that resulted in “significant cognitive impairment.”

The defence outlined Costa’s history of mental health and addiction issues that left him reliant on his parents.

Costa had also been diagnosed with schizo-affective and bi-polar disorders.

The Crown told the court, Costa intentionally set the fire, and his actions were no accident. The defence told the court Costa’s disability “played a causal role” in the fire.

The Crown presented nine victim impact statements to the court including one from the building’s owner Jeff Pitcher. In the statement Pitcher described the fire as a “nightmare” he has been living for more than three months. Pitcher told CTV News he is on the hook for another $1.4 million his insurance company will not cover.

Pitcher told the court while he does not know the man responsible for causing such devastation he hopes Costa finds “the help and support” he needs to get his life on track” adding “There should be serious consequences for bad behaviour.”

Pitcher said his own hopes, dreams and retirement plans went up in flames that morning and is now dealing with “irreparable damage” that will take decades to recover from personally and financially.

Pitcher said he hopes Costa turn his life around.

“My hope is that you will change and become a better person,” he said. “Let this be the fire that ignites change for you.”

Costa is scheduled to be sentenced by Justice Nichols next week in Barrie.