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BRANDON — A serial arsonist who believes controlled burning is his “calling” was sentenced to nine months in jail and barred for two years from a southwestern Manitoba community after he deliberately set multiple grass fires during a fire ban in May.

Phillip Andrew Unrau, 72, created a dangerous situation for residents of Margaret and a nearby Hutterite colony on the evening of May 21 when he set fire to several patches of grass along a railway bed, provincial court Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said on Wednesday.

People in the community, located 45 kilometres southeast of Brandon, called the fire department. While no residents saw Unrau light the fires, he made incriminating comments to witnesses and was found alone near the burning land that stretched for 274 metres, the judge said.

“The damage to property here was minimal, but the emotional and psychological harm that Mr. Unrau causes to his neighbours is significant,” she said.

Zoongizi Ode, a non-profit organization that assists and advocates for Indigenous youth and families, showed off its new home Thursday.

Calling it a home is fitting for executive director Mary Burton, because she prefers to call her clients family members.

“When people walk in our doors, they’re greeted warmly. We sit with them. We listen to their story. We don’t ask questions. We just listen. And then once they’re done telling their story, we then start asking the questions that we need to know, and once that’s done, we start,” Burton said walking through the new space, which is nestled on the fifth floor of 112 Market Ave. in the Exchange District.

Founded in 2014, the non-profit helps youth aging out of care and families reunify, as well as others navigate Child and Family Services, the Residential Tenancies Branch and welfare programs. Between its half-dozen advocates, Zoongizi Ode has nearly 100 open files.