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CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
B.C. man sentenced after arson at home of Ukrainian priest
A Nanaimo, B.C., man has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison after an arson attack at an Ukrainian priest's home in Victoria. The fire in the 1100-block of Caledonia Avenue on April 20, 2022, threatened the family of Father Yuriy Vyshnevskyy, the parish priest at the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. Nicholas, located next door. Now, Walter (Theo) Machinski has been sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of arson with disregard for human life. He was known to the family, Victoria police said, but the incident was "not motivated by hatred towards an identifiable group." Machinski was arrested in April 2023, according to police, who say the home targeted by the arson attack remains uninhabitable to this day. "The bravery of the family and the swift response of our officers and Victoria firefighters prevented a tragedy," read a statement from Victoria acting deputy chief Michael Brown. Three girls had to be lowered by their mother out of the second-floor window to their father and two bystanders waiting below, Dan Atkinson, acting chief of the Victoria Fire Department said at the time. The mother then had to be rescued by firefighters with the help of a ladder. Vyshnevskyy said in April 2022 that his wife woke up around 1 a.m. PT on the night of the fire after hearing noises. She assumed it was one of her children walking around the house, then realized the sounds were coming from the front porch. "The next thing she heard was the sound of ... emptying the bottle and the smell of gasoline," he said. "Someone was pouring [it] inside the house through the mail slot." "She yelled, she called me and said, 'Yuriy, get up, someone's pouring this into the house' ... Up until that point, there was no fire." But almost immediately after he was alerted to the gasoline, Vyshnevskyy said, someone started a fire which spread "really quickly." By the time he got downstairs, the front room was already ablaze. As smoke filled the house, he said he had to abandon his plans to put out the fire himself, and then escaped through the back door. Outside, he saw his wife and children through the upstairs window, gasping for air. His neighbour then helped encourage the stranded children to jump — their only safe way out of the house. "They trusted us and and they were brave," Vyshnevskyy said. Following the fire, Atkinson praised the parents for their quick thinking. "It's really an incredible story and a testament to both the parents of the children to ensure their safety by closing doors behind them to help prevent rapid fire spread into the areas where they were," he said. "It certainly could have been much worse."
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
Arsonist sentenced for fire at Ukrainian pastor's home in Victoria
Emergency crews respond to an arson at a church pastor's home in Victoria, B.C., on April 20, 2022. Three years after an arson attack at a Ukrainian pastor's home in Victoria, B.C., the man responsible has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years behind bars. Walter 'Theo' Machinski was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of arson with disregard for human life, the Victoria Police Department announced Wednesday. Pastor Yuriy Vyshnevskyy, his wife and their three daughters were asleep in the home – which is attached to the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker – when the attack began in the early morning hours of April 20, 2022. Vyshnevskyy previously told CTV News he awoke around 1 a.m. to his wife screaming from the ground floor, where gasoline was being poured into a mail slot. Some family members were forced to jump from second-storey windows to escape the flames, while others were rescued by firefighters, authorities said. 'We are incredibly fortunate that this dangerous act did not result in more serious injuries or loss of life,' said Acting Deputy Chief Michael Brown, in a statement. 'The bravery of the family and the swift response of our officers and Victoria firefighters prevented a tragedy.' At the time of Machinski's arrest, police said they believed the incident was targeted, but not motivated by 'hatred towards an identifiable group.' Records obtained by CTV News show Machinski served as the St. Nicholas pastor prior to Vyshnevskyy taking over the role. Police said the property sustained serious damage in the fire, and remains uninhabitable. With files from CTV News Vancouver's Todd Coyne
