Page One

Daily Planet Staff 

A small arson fire in the English Department’s bookroom forced the early dismissal of classes Thursday afternoon at Berkeley High School. 

The single-alarm fire didn’t cause much damage to the room, and water damage was limited to a few stacks of books. In fact, by the time Berkeley city firefighters arrived, the flames were out, thanks to the sprinkler system. 

Asst. Chief Lucky Thomas said the fire was reported around 1:10 p.m., and was under control about 15 minutes later. The initial investigation indicates that arson was the cause of the fire. There’s a non-operational heater behind the stack of books that burned, and there are no electrical wirings nearby that could have ignited the fire, Thomas said. A thorough investigation will be conducted with assistance from school district representatives and the Berkeley Police Department, he said. 

Principal Theresa Saunders said access to the room is limited to faculty and staff; students are not supposed to be in the room. 

The decision to end the school day early was made jointly by the principal and Superintendent Jack McLaughlin. Saunders pointed out that the entire C Building, where the fire occurred, had been evacuated and the fire department wanted it to remain vacated while the initial investigation was conducted. That would have forced teachers to hold class in Civic Center Park or near the football field. She said that wasn’t a feasible option under the circumstances, so all students were sent home near the end of sixth period, just past 1:30 p.m. 

Last spring, a series of small arson fires occurred on the Berkeley High campus. A number of them also happened in the C Building.