Arson suspected in Gunn fires Arson suspected in Gunn fires (May 14, 2004)

Police investigate fires that erupted Wednesday afternoon

by Alexandria Rocha

Arson is suspected in several trash-can fires that erupted Wednesday afternoon at Gunn High School, according to police.

The fires disrupted about an hour of class time for students, who were evacuated onto an athletic field.

The first fire was spotted in the girl's locker room bathroom. Police suspected that there was more than one fire, but had few details as of late Wednesday afternoon. .

"At this time there are no suspects," said Marianna Villaescusa, a police spokesperson. "Right now we're investigating it, as we would with all fires we feel are suspicious."

Scott Lawrence, the school's principal, said a campus supervisor noticed the first fire's flames in the gym about 1:30 p.m. School authorities quickly called 911, and Palo Alto firefighters were dispatched to the scene.

"This is not a prank. This is illegal and it's dangerous," said Lawrence, shaking his head. "If we catch the person, we'll take appropriate action. It's not funny. It's not safe. Smoke builds up in those rooms very fast."

The school's students had varying reactions to the afternoon's events.

"I don't think it's a big deal. I think it was just a bad prank," said Nick Postma, 16, a sophomore.

Some of Postma's classmates, however, were a bit more rattled.

"I was with my friends in the gym," said Sarah Hamburger, 15, also a sophomore. "We saw the smoke and we freaked out and then told our teacher."

Sophomore Aluren Donohua, 16, was simply annoyed.

"It was ridiculous that they evacuated us out onto the field," she said. "It took away from our class time."

Parents were immediately notified of the day's events through an electronic announcement system, said Lawrence. A meeting will be held for the school's staff Thursday morning.

Villaescusa said once students were evacuated about 1:30 p.m., the fires were contained quickly and students were back on the campus within an hour. It was unknown Wednesday afternoon how much damage the fires caused.

Staff writer Alexandria Rocha can be e-mailed at arocha@paweekly.com

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