A Prince George woman was sentenced Thursday to three years probation for setting grass fires while out riding her mobility aid scooter.
Lydia Paradis, 49, was first arrested July 7 after Prince George Fire Rescue was called out to four grass fires that day, two at about 10 a.m. and another two just before 1 p.m. and all near the junction of Highways 16 and 97.
Paradis was released on a recognizance the next day, but on July 21 she was arrested again in connection with two more fires.
Police received a call at 5 p.m. that a woman was seen leaving a fire set in a bushy area at St. Laurent Avenue and Upland Drive and about 20 minutes later they received a second call about a sighting of the same sort, this time near the baseball fields in Carrie Jane Gray Park.
Police found Paradis a short distance away on her scooter and with a lighter and several cigarette butts.
Paradis had remained in custody since that arrest until her sentencing in Prince George provincial court.
Conditions of her probation include not carrying any devices that can be used to set fires while outside her home and to take steps to ensure her mental health will not cause her to be a danger.
Paradis, who received the sentence for two counts of arson damaging property, was also ordered to pay a $200 victim fine surcharge and issued a 10-year firearms prohibition.
On May 6, firefighters had to deal with seven grass fires in the VLA area and Hudson's Bay Slough area. No one has yet been charged with those incidents.
