NORTH DELTA - Police and firefighters are investigating the second elementary school arson in North Delta within three months.
Nobody was injured in either fire. Sunshine Hills Elementary school at 11285 Bond Blvd. sustained more than $100,000 in damage early Wednesday morning after somebody started a fire at the rear of the school, where wood had been stacked up against a wall.
"It was a challenging fire to say the least," said Delta Deputy Fire Chief Ken Sim. It burned so hot, he said, it got into the metal cladding of the school. Sim credited the 32 firefighters who arrived in three ladder trucks and four pump trucks with saving the school.
It took a few hours for them to put down the two-alarm blaze, which started shortly before 2 a.m. "There was a lot of damage," he said. "It was phoned in as a rubbish fire."
Sim said there is so far "no correlation" between the Sunshine Hills fire and the Heath Traditional Elementary school fire in North Delta in April.
Heath was closed for a few days after the fire was set outside a kindergarten classroom at the back of the school, in the 11300-block of 72nd Avenue, on April 14.
Police released three samples of graffiti from the scene, hoping someone might come forward with information about the tagger (see thenownewspaper.com for photos). They believe the graffiti was done at the same time the fire was set.
"These images are being released in the hopes that parents, teachers or friends may have observed these images elsewhere or know the individuals responsible for such acts," Sgt. Sarah Swallow said.
Police ask anyone with information on these fires to contact the Delta Police Major Crime Section at 604-946-4411.
tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com