Arson Suspected in Grade School Fire in Fullerton

Arson is suspected in a $500,000 blaze that broke out early Monday at Richman Elementary School in Fullerton, school officials said.

The fire, reported at 1:40 a.m., caused no injuries but gutted three classrooms and caused extensive damage to three others at the 30-year-old school at 700 S. Richman Ave.

Classes were expected to resume today, but officials said some preschool students must be bused to another school.

“We’re told that arson is suspected, and if it is arson, I hope the authorities catch the person responsible,” said John Bedell, a Fullerton School District board member. “This is tragic--a major loss to the community.”

The fire’s cause remains under investigation, but “arson has not been ruled out,” said Sylvia Palmer, Fullerton’s city public information officer.

Firefighters Suspect Arson

School officials said firefighters and investigators had told them that arson is strongly suspected.

“It’s believed the fire started in one of our 2nd-grade classrooms, and they have no equipment, such as electrical devices, that could start a fire,” Richman Principal Minard Duncan said.

Duncan said there are unconfirmed reports that youngsters were seen near the buildings early Monday at about the time the fire broke out. He said there had been no anonymous threats, previous fires or other incidents.

Palmer said the Fullerton Fire Department has estimated damage at $500,000. She said the fire was brought under control in about 40 minutes.

School board member Robert C. Fisler said that while the district has fire insurance, it seldom covers the entire cost of repairs or rebuilding.

“One possibility, though, is for the board to use capital funds in addition to the insurance and totally rebuild this wing of the school,” Fisler said, referring to money that school districts receive from the sale of surplus properties. By state law, such capital funds can be used only to build new structures and not for maintenance or repair.

No classroom disruptions were caused Monday because it was a school holiday.

Despite the loss of six of the school’s 25 classrooms, Duncan said Richman Elementary would resume classes this morning with only the 40 preschool Headstart pupils bused to another school. The remaining 720 students in kindergarten through 6th grades will still attend classes at Richman, Duncan said.

‘As Normal as Possible’

“I want to try to keep everything as normal as possible for the kids,” he said.

The 40 Headstart pupils normally taught at Richman will be bused today to nearby Maple School, Duncan said.

Students whose classrooms were burned will do their learning in a converted storage room and other facilities for the time being, Duncan said.

“I think I’ve got the six classes now covered,” he said. “Everybody has been marvelous. The district has given us lots of support, and the teachers are all pitching in to help.”

The fire provided a dramatic safety lesson in the value of fireproof drapes. “Our Fullerton Fire Department requires fireproof drapes, and you can say I am now fully a believer,” Duncan said.

“We have those drapes in our Media Center, which has our videotapes, computers and other very expensive equipment in it. The Media Center is next to where the classrooms burned, and the fire was so hot, it melted the glass of the window in the Media Center.

“But you know what? The drapes are still standing, and the fire didn’t spread inside the Media Center.”

Teachers, school board members and curious children came Monday to view the ruins of the destroyed classrooms.

“This is devastating; we don’t need this,” said Irene Armstrong, president of the school board, as she walked outside the charred buildings.

Asked why an arsonist might to torch an elementary school, Fisler responded: “Well, you never know. Some people have very strange ideas. And it might be some disgruntled kid.”

Act Out Frustration, Anger

School board member Bedell, a sociology professor at Cal State Fullerton, said he is concerned that some people are using schools to act out their anger and frustration. He mentioned as a recent example the fatal shooting of five pupils at a Stockton elementary school Jan. 17 by a man who then killed himself.

“Schools used to be peaceful places, but I’m worried that they’re now becoming targets for people with twisted ideas,” Bedell said.

“Have we reached the point in society where we must build big fences around our schools? I hope this isn’t the case, but I’m very worried about what’s happening.”