2008.11.17
Charges likely in middle-school fire
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office expects to charge a juvenile in connection with the fire this morning at Christiansburg Middle school, according to Lt. Brian Wright.
Deputies responded to a small fire there this at 11:17 a.m. However, before the sheriff's office arrived on the scene, at least three fire trucks and two Christiansburg police officers were on the scene. The exact time the fire broke out is unknown, Wright said.
Wright said a bunch of papers caught fire in a conference room. Students nearby the conference room on the second floor were sent from their classes, but the school was not evacuated. The students, and their teachers, waited at the bottom of the stairs as investigators looked into the fire.
Superintendent Tiffany Anderson sent an e-mail to parents and staff shortly after the fire saying that the school had been evacuated. Teachers stopped by the school's main office asking secretaries about the e-mail.
In an e-mail to the school system's listserve after noon, Anderson said, "There was a small fire that was immediately extinguished by a staff member in a teacher conference room today. Students on the second floor in the wing closest to the conference room were evacuated from their classrooms although the fire had already been extinguished."
Wright could not confirm that the juvenile suspected was a student at the school.
He said the heavy response was typical for any incident at a school "because of the potential victims."
