An arsonist who caused more than half a million dollars in damages when he set fire to two Metro Vancouver restaurants has been sentenced to more than five years in prison.

RCMP in Burnaby, B.C., say a court also sentenced Steven Sorenson last month to serve three years鈥� probation after his release.

Sorenson, who is 50 years old, was convicted by a B.C. Supreme Court judge in November for setting three fires, two of them in April 2020 targeting a Korean restaurant and a sushi restaurant in Burnaby.

Police say the fires caused extensive damage and officers from the RCMP鈥檚 economic crime unit reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance video to identify the suspect in a 鈥渄ifficult and painstaking鈥� investigation.

Sorenson set a third fire on Nov. 6, 2020, to the same sushi restaurant he attacked months earlier, and police arrested and charged the man a week later.

Police estimate the three fires caused more than $550,000 in damages.