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School Fire |
On opening night of the musical “Little Shop of Horrors,” on Thursday, May 30, a fire was deliberately set in the handicap bathrooms near the attendance office. Over 300 people were in attendance, when, during intermission, the fire alarms went off. The crowd was quickly ushered outside, and there were no injuries.
The suspect stacked toilet paper and toilet seat covers in the women’s bathroom, and set fire to the paper. The fire quickly grew, and engulfed the toilet seat cover container, which caused the fire to become extremely hot because of the melting plastic. Associate Principal Jim Garza said, “The fire was hot enough to set off the sprinkler system.”
The
sprinkler system quickly put out the fire, but continued to spray water
all throughout the hallway, causing the Attendance office to flood.
According to Garza, the fire damage was minimal, but flooding caused most
of the main damage. Luckily, the janitorial staff, along with the fire
department were able to vacuum up the water, and quickly dispersed it into
the quad. Garza said, “We were lucky. It could have been a lot worse.”
The estimated cost of the damage is an unverified amount, but much work
needs to be done on the bathroom, hallway, and attendance office.
Repainting, retiling, and carpet cleaning need to be done on the areas
that were damaged by the excess water.
The
suspect is described as a female around middle school age, who was seen by
a witness as being near the area around the time the fire was started.
Principal Fire Prevention Specialist James Carver, along with the El
Segundo Fire Department is currently investigating the case. According to
Carver, this incident was a deliberate case of arson and is currently
being investigated.
Carver believes that the suspect needs to get help with her problems, and he said, “We want to get to the root of the problem to help them early on.” Carver urges anyone who knows any information concerning the fire or suspect to please come forward, and contact him at Fire Station One.