UPPER LAKE ? According to a press release issued by Captain James Bauman, public information officer On Thursday at about 12:40 p.m. fire and rescue personnel from the North Shore and Lakeport Fire Protection Districts were dispatched to a structure fire at the Upper Lake Elementary School on 2nd St. in Upper Lake. Sheriff”s deputies also responded to assist with evacuation as needed.
While firefighters attacked a fully involved girls bathroom on the south side of the school, deputies learned from school officials that they had two girls, an 11-year-old and a 12-year-old both from Nice, detained. The two girls were seen by other students lighting pieces of paper inside the bathroom shortly before the fire broke out.
When deputies questioned the girls, they learned they had both been playing with a lighter in the bathroom, lighting small pieces of paper on fire. At one point, one of the girls apparently lit the paper towels in a wall dispenser on fire, threw water on the flames, and then left the bathroom thinking they had extinguished the fire.
Fire personnel were on scene for more than an hour extinguishing the bathroom and surrounding structure. According to school officials, the extent of damage is believed to be between $100,000 and $150,000.
Both girls were issued citations for felony arson and released to the parents. Their cases will be reviewed and adjudicated through the Lake County Probation Department.
