School Offers Reward for Suspects in Classroom Fire

Students and staff at Pacoima Middle School have chipped in about $300 in reward money to help catch whomever may have set fire to a special education classroom earlier this week. But with leads still being sorted out, they may have to wait some time before they give any money away.

“The case is under investigation,” said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis, adding that arson has yet to be confirmed as the cause of the fire that engulfed the classroom at about 3 a.m. Thursday.

Property damages were estimated at $100,000, officials said.

Students have provided a few of the tips being followed by police and fire officials, said Pacoima’s principal, Maria Wale.

“We’re not at liberty to discuss the details,” she said. “But we’re working very hard with the police to solve this soon.”

Wale did say that a neighbor reported seeing three people walking near the school at about the time of the fire.

The flames fully destroyed the special education room and partially damaged the adjacent sewing room before firefighters drowned the flames, officials said.

About 40 special education students and 150 seventh- through ninth-graders who used the sewing room were relocated Thursday morning to other rooms on campus, Wale said.

The property loss included dozens of study plans tailor-made for individual students and their needs that had been collected by dedicated teachers over the course of 25 years, Wale said.

Although the district will eventually rebuild the two rooms and replace most of the materials, Wale said that could take months or even longer.

“We’ll do as much as we can with the limited resources we have,” she said. But “the rebuilding may take up to years.”

In the meantime, she said her priority is to try to find permanent classrooms for the students and solicit donations to replace some of the special education books.

A day after the fire, some students expressed disbelief at the early morning fire.

“How could they do that?” wondered 14-year-old Tina Martinez. “Schools are supposed to be safe.”

Other students, however, seemed less surprised.

“I was just surprised ‘cause it was during the week,” said 15-year-old ninth-grader Tomson Tongala.

Added fellow ninth-grader Wayne Johnson: “Usually it’s on weekends that somebody would do something like that.”