KELOWNA – Police say a 21-year-old man now in custody was walking along Highway 97 with a blow torch lighting landscaped sidewalks on fire with a blow torch.

Kelowna RCMP credit witnesses to the bizarre event for alerting firefighters and police just after noon yesterday, July 30.

Police spokesperson Cpl. Dan Moskaluk says callers reported the man in the 1900 block of Harvey Ave at 12:24 p.m. Witnesses told police the man "attempted to set other fires along his route."

By the time police arrived, firefighters pointed him out. They arrested him at a retail outlet at the corner Burtch Rd and Harvey Ave "without incident."

"Mostly landscaping was damaged along with one portable billboard," Moskaluk says. "No structures were affected."

The Kelowna man was held in custody and appeared in Kelowna today.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw or call 250-718-0428 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.