Two Students Arrested for Fire at High School

DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) – Two boys are facing arson charges in a two-alarm fire that closed Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas last month.

According to a news release from the fire department, the students, both 15, admitted to causing the Jan. 6 fire. The teens told investigators they were “smoking and burning paper” in a bathroom closet.

The school was shut down for three days as a result of the fire.

Press release from Dallas Fire-Rescue:

At 10:57 Dallas Fire-Rescue responded to a 911 call for a fire at Woodrow Wilson High School, located at 100 South Glasgow Drive, near the Lakewood Area.

When first responding companies arrived at the three-story school, they observed smoke coming from the second and third floors of the building. School faculty and staff evacuated nearly 1,800 students from the school as firefighters arrived. Firefighters were able to quickly get inside and, despite the smoke output, locate a small fire on the third-floor in a bathroom closet and put it out. Due to the amount of smoke that filled the hallways, coupled with water accumulation, a second alarm response was dispatched.

Thankfully, there were no injuries during the course of the incident, and school was cancelled for the remainder of the day and some days after.

(2/10/16 Update): After a thorough investigation, which involved the conducting of interviews and examining evidence; on Tuesday, February 9, 2016, DFR Investigators arrested 2 juveniles who admittedly caused the fire. According to investigators they were “smoking and burning paper” in the third-floor bathroom closet when the fire began. They are both being charged with Arson.