Wednesday, April 07, 1999
Arson fires hit 2 middle schools
Damage light; connection possible
BY BERNIE MIXON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Two arson fires Tuesday at two middle schools about 5 miles apart with students on spring break may add up to more than coincidence.
An accelerant was used to start the fires at Pleasant Run Middle School in Colerain Township and Winton Woods Middle School in Greenhills.
Both buildings had minor damage, investigators said. The buildings will be ready for students when they return from break on Monday, school officials said.
Smoke tripped alarm
The fire at Pleasant Run was discovered shortly before 12:30 a.m. by a Hamilton County Sheriff's deputy investigating a burglar alarm.
A temporary dividing wall separating the existing building and an addition under construction was on fire when the deputy arrived.
Lt. Hollis Love, a fire investigator with the Colerain Township fire department, said the plywood wall was set afire with what he suspects was gasoline.
“When the policeman came to the check on the alarm, he found the smoke and called the fire department,” said Lt. Love.
Smoke, which filled the building, tripped a motion sensor and sent a silent alarm to police. Colerain Township firefighters extinguished the fire in about 10 minutes.
The fire at Winton Woods Middle School was discovered at about 2:15 a.m. by Greenhills police who were responding to an intrusion alarm.
Extinguisher deployed
“The window was broken,” said Greenhills Fire Chief Tony Spaeth. “I'm not sure what they used to break the window. The fire was inside the window on the ledge...”
A police officer used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire. There was no major structural damage, and damage was set at about $500, Chief Spaeth said.
"Some similarities'
Officials are not sure whether the fires were random acts of mischief or the work of spring break pranksters.
“Right now I can't say for sure,” said Chief Spaeth. “I can tell you the other fire did occur about 90 minutes prior to the one we had. The school is about 5-6 miles away and was a (middle school). There are some similarities.”
A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at 825-1500 or Greenhills police at 825-2101.
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