Administrators, parents, faculty and students at Alice Birney Elementary School in University Heights won’t know for a while whether the school’s cafeteria-auditorium will reopen during the current school year after it was damaged by someone police are calling a serial arsonist.
That information was shared during a community meeting, at which Principal Amanda Hammond-Williams joined with San Diego Police Lt. Mark Hanten to ask for the public’s help in finding the culprit(s) and stop the arson spree before someone gets hurt. Three other fires were set, each at the nearby Jehova’s Witness Kingdom Hall, within recent weeks.
“I’ve heard everything from three to four months to, ‘we won’t be reopening for the rest of this school year,” Hammond-Williams told those in attendance at the meeting. “But we do have a … party tent set up as the cafeteria for now, and the kitchen is expected to be serving up hot meals again this week.” In a lighter moment during the meeting, the principal joked that the temporary tent that is being used as a cafeteria for students will be available to rent for weddings and parties.
According to Hammond-Williams, the first phase of post-fire work – clean-up and inventorying damage and remaining assets – has been already completed.
“The second phase, demolition, is now underway,” she said.
One of the casualties of the arson was the Birney Buddy room, which had just received new furnishings from a state grant.
“There’s nothing left now,” Hammond Williams said. “The Birney Buddy room had been set up as a play area for kids who were having trouble adjusting to school. Other programs that were housed in the cafeteria-auditorium were absolutely decimated.”
However, a couple of bright spots have encouraged the principal and those looking to her for direction and inspiration to persevere through the challenge of continuing to educate students without some of the school’s most basic resources.
“The outpouring of community support with donations of money has been amazing,” she said. “We have to start anew.”
Hammond-Williams said she broke down when students approached her with their own donations.
“They said, ‘Miss Amanda, we were so upset by what we saw on TV we did a yard sale and here is $30,’” she said. “I have been so strong and I just fell apart. That made me cry.”
Police are looking for a specific type of criminal, according to Lt. Hanten.
“I don’t think we’re dealing with some random vandals who happened across a gas can in this … series of arson fires,” he said. “Once a fire starter gets started on this course, he gets very emotionally involved.”
According to the lieutenant, arsonists are like sexual predators in that they “… are predators of a different type, but they have to register as someone who’s been an arsonist in the past, just the way a sexual predator does.”
There’s no doubt in the minds of police about whether the fires (one of which was set to two cars at the Jehova’s Witness Kingdom Hall) were set by the same person(s) or by a copycat.
“We consider these three attempts on local buildings to be related,” said Hanten, who also said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) as well as Fire Department investigators were helping police solve the crimes.
Contact San Diego County Crimestoppers with any information you believe might help investigators solve the crimes at 888-580-TIPS (8477). You can also text “SDTIPS” plus the information you have to 274637.
As this thing has continued we’ve added resources on an ongoing basis. We do have ATF; we do have Fire Department; we do have a lot of people working on (solving) these arsons now. When buildings that have people living in them begin to be targeted, that really ups the ante.
