Arson Is Suspected in Laguna High Fire

Arson is suspected in a $250,000 Laguna Beach High School blaze that destroyed an office, two classrooms, textbooks and files, fire officials said.

In addition, fire and school officials are investigating the meaning of freshly scrawled graffiti found Sunday, including the numbers “666,” which are often tied to satanic worship, and the phrase “Black Sabbath,” apparently a reference to a heavy metal rock band of the same name.

The graffiti, written in spray paint, was found on a blackboard, on walls inside some classrooms and on exterior walls, Laguna Beach fire and school officials said.

No one was injured in the blaze, which broke out about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, officials said. Flames were confined to one of the school’s older buildings, in the northeast area of the scenic campus. The building houses an office and the school’s foreign language classrooms.

Satanic Cult Theory

Although some officials speculated that the graffiti could indicate the work of a satanic cult, that theory was rejected by Dennis M. Smith, Laguna Beach Unified School District superintendent.

“We think it was just vandals or arsonists,” Smith said in a telephone interview Sunday.

Three sixes represent the number of the beast, meaning the devil, according to “A Dictionary of Symbols,” published by Philosophical Library Inc.

Black Sabbath’s first two albums firmly established the group as a quasi-black-magic, occult band.

Retaliation Not Suspected

Laguna Beach High is the only high school in the school district and has an enrollment of fewer than 1,000 students.

Fire investigators and school officials said they believe that the fire was set randomly by an arsonist or vandals and not targeted against the two instructors whose classrooms were heavily damaged.

Extensive school property and personal files of the two Spanish instructors were destroyed as a result of the fire or from smoke and water damage.

“I think it was in an area where someone could (easily) enter into the building. There’s no indication that they were looking to (retaliate) at the two individuals,” Smith said.

The rear of the building, which is on the campus’ northern boundary, is in a remote area hidden by shrubs. School officials said a window was pried open to gain access to the office.

Laguna Beach firefighter Dirk Floref said the school office and a classroom were “completely gutted.”

“In addition, all rooms and corridors inside the building suffered heavy heat and smoke damage,” Floref said.

“At first I was glad to know that no one was hurt,” Laguna Beach school board member Carl Schwarz said. “But it’s a blow to the teachers who have lost their lifelong files.”

About 40 firefighters were able to extinguish the fire in the classrooms, but damage became extensive after flames had spread to the attic area.

Damage to the structure was estimated at $225,000, with an additional $25,000 in damage to the contents. Smith said the school district carries fire insurance.

No threats of violence or arson were reported before the fire, school officials said Sunday.