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Police release suspect's image after fire deliberately set at Old City Hall courthouse

Toronto police are asking for the public's help in identifying a man wanted in connection with a Monday night fire at the Old City Hall courthouse.

Police allege the suspect broke into the building and set three separate fires within an office in the southeast corner of the building, causing considerable damage.

This comes after Toronto Fire said an initial investigation concluded that the fire was set deliberately. No injuries were reported.

"It's an obvious criminal act and it's a tragedy that this happened," said Larry Cocco, the division chief of fire investigations, for Toronto Fire.

Officials say the fire was brought under control quickly.

The initial Toronto Fire investigation says the fire set off the building's sprinkler system, and the fire and water caused about $100,000 worth of damage to the building.

Court documents are among the items damaged, all located inside the Restitution, Fines and Appeals Office, Cocco said.

Brian Gray, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General, confirmed the fire damaged part of the Provincial Offences Act appeals office.

However, he said by email, "we can confirm that no paperwork related to criminal cases has been damaged."

While the damage is still being assessed, the courts remain operational, Gray said, though some court matters Tuesday had to be moved to another room.

For the Criminal Lawyers Association, this incident underscores why they have been arguing for the use of more electronic court documents, rather than paper files and documents sent via fax.

"We need to get with the times," said criminal lawyer Matthew Gourlay.

"Fires will always happen... but we need to have a system that depends far less than it does today on physical pieces of paper."