Crime & Safety
Arsonist Torches Kindergarten Playground
Playground equipment was set ablaze and destroyed at Alamos Elementary today.
Someone set a fire at a school kindergarten's playground today, burning equipment and causing upwards of $3,000 damage, officials said.
The blaze was reported shortly before 1:45 p.m. at , 38200 Pacific Park Drive, Murrieta.
The school is within the Temecula Valley Unified School District.
Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Flames engulfed the playground slide and the support pole melted, Patch learned at the scene.
The smell of burned wood and plastic filled the air.
Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“It appears someone was playing with fire on the playground,” Riverside County fire Capt. Tim Buckley said.
There were no witnesses but school officials will be reviewing video footage, according to Principal Penny Kubly.
“It’s just really sad,” Kubly said. “Why would you play with fire on school grounds?”
The blaze was reported by local residents and school employees who saw flames from their homes, the principal said, adding that she was called by employees as well.
“I was driving home from the store. That’s when I saw the black smoke,” fifth-grade teacher Teresa Cubbedge told Patch.
“I noticed the playground on fire and called 911.”
It took firefighters just a few minutes to knock down the flames, Buckley said.
The fire was under investigation and school officials intend to work with law enforcement, Cubbedge said.
