Arson destroys classroom at Vallejo Middle School

An arson fire destroyed a portable classroom at Springstowne Middle School early Thursday morning, the Vallejo Fire Department reported.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze around 7:15 a.m. in Portable 38A before it spread to adjacent portable buildings, said VFD spokesman Bill Tweedy.

Someone walking by the school saw smoke and alerted authorities, he said.

The fire caused about $30,000 in damages and the portable classroom and its contents are a “complete loss,” Tweedy said.

Arsonists also set two more fires near Springstowne classrooms Thursday morning, but these caused virtually no damage, Tweedy said.

Vallejo schools are currently on spring break and no one was on campus Thursday morning.

Fire investigators found a Molotov cocktail under a walkway near Classroom 38, which is part of the school’s main building, Tweedy said.

The Molotov cocktail, also known as a gasoline bomb, had been thrown against the building and set on fire. However, it burned out on concrete and did not cause any damage to surrounding structures, Tweedy said.

At a second portable building, someone had tried to ignite combustible material stuck in a crack near a door. The material burned but caused only minor damage to the door, Tweedy said.

Last September, a fire was intentionally set between two portables at Franklin Middle School, causing about $120,000 in damages.

Story by Times Herald