St. Thomas was rocked this week by a pair of arson-related fires, which, thankfully, did not result in any injuries.

A blaze early Sunday morning destroyed part of the Acacia Block on Talbot Street, which dates back to 1881.

A couple of young entrepreneurs were close to completing renovations on the building adjacent to the Railway City Transit terminal that would have housed commercial operations on the ground floor and apartments on the second level.

Earlier this year, the ground floor was the campaign headquarters for Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP Andrew Lawton.

Joseph Penfound was quickly apprehended on Sunday morning, and the accused, “a prolific offender,” according to St. Thomas Police,  has been charged with arson along with a couple of other offences.