Fire Guts Koreatown Day-Care Center

Silence on Tuesday morning replaced the laughter of children usually heard at the Gloria Montejano School in Koreatown. Instead, parents and teachers toured in sadness and disbelief what was left of the classrooms that were damaged in a fire that investigators believe was arson.

The school, which provides care for 72 children ages 2 to 5, is a vital resource for many working parents in the neighborhood, said Director Sonia Reyes. The school receives state funds, which the YMCA administers, and the vast majority of the children attend free.

Through the morning, teachers and parents continued to wonder why someone would want to burn the center.

Said Miguel Orozco, whose two daughters go to the school, “We’re destroyed, devastated. This [school] is important for us parents with low incomes. The kids learn a lot, and there’s a trusting relationship between the teachers and parents.”

More than 45 firefighters were called to extinguish the flames that broke out about 2:55 a.m. Tuesday at the school in the 2900 block of Francis Avenue. The blaze consumed two classrooms and caused damage estimated at $120,000, said Brian Humphrey, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman. Officials declined to comment on a motive or suspects.

“We have solid evidence of arson, but we can’t reveal details because of the ongoing investigation,” Humphrey said. “It’s despicable that someone could ignite such an important center in the community.”

Reyes said firefighters told her that all the doors of the building were open when they arrived, but there were no signs of forced entry. The school has two alarms--one for fire and one for security--and she said both were off when firefighters arrived.

A neighbor said she saw a man inside the school right after the fire began, standing amid the flames and seeming scared. She did not observe how he got out of the building.

The school rents the property from the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, which is directly behind the school.

The preschool is “really important for these parents; there are really so few resources here,” said the church’s minister, the Rev. Sherri Cave Puchalsky.

Because the majority of the parents are single mothers, Reyes said, she worries not so much about the building, which she believes will be rebuilt with support from the community, but about those parents who cannot afford time off from work and who now do not have anyone to care for their children.

“Where are these kids going to go, when many parents can’t afford to pay for day care?” she said.

By midmorning, insurance agents for the church were assessing the damage to the property. “The plan is to rebuild the center as soon as possible,” said Puchalsky.

The church has offered to temporarily relocate school on church premises. Reyes said that may be done as soon as Monday if the necessary government permission can be obtained.