Santa Monica Fire Department quarantines South Gym after suspected arson

Jones PitskerStaff WriterA fire at Samo, suspected by police and fire officials to be arson has left the South Gym and the South Gym’s boys’ locker room quarantined and many students without cell phones, house keys and text books since last Tuesday.According to Santa Monica Fire Department (SMFD) fireman Mark Bridges, the fire was “suspicious,” and SMFD will continue to investigate the fire with the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD).“We have pretty much eliminated all natural causes,” Bridges said. “We will move forward with the investigation.”According to S-House principal Jason Kurtenbach, for now, SMPD knows more than Samo administrators, faculty, staff and students do.“The school doesn’t know what evidence led the police to suspect it was arson and they likely will not reveal that information unless they have to,” Kurtenbach said. “The fire was started in multiple lockers and we’re not sure how many, if any, students were involved.”According to SMFD fireman Gary Marshall, the damage was not extensive, although Bridges said that they responded with three fire engines, one ladder and one hazard unit.According to Kurtenbach, the fire happened about halfway through fifth period on Jan. 31, and students were evacuated to the Greek Theater from the yoga and dance rooms as well as from the South Gym. SMFD arrived on campus about five minutes after the fire was started and extinguished the fire a few minutes later.“We know that the fire was concentrated mainly in the locker room and some damage was done to the interior of some lockers,” Kurtenbach said. “However, we do not know which lockers were affected and are unsure as to whether any structural damage was done.”According to a press release from the SMPD, there were no injuries to Samo staff, students and faculty. The fire damaged about ten lockers. However, SMPD will not release any information they have collected about suspected arson until their investigation is completed.“We can’t release any of our information until we get to the conclusion of the events,” SMPD sergeant Richard Lewis said. “We’ll release a dollar amount for the damage sooner or later, but as far as the origin of the fire and who it was started by, we won’t release that until we’ve finished interviewing people.”Meanwhile, the fifth period P.E. students may have to wait several weeks before they receive their possesions.“Before we can release anything back to the students, we have to do tests for carcinogens and toxins that might have been caused by the fire ... to make sure we aren’t releasing harmful substances into the student body,” Kurtenbach said.For some students, the wait presents many difficulties.“Not having access to my wallet is a problem because I can no longer go off campus for lunch,” sophomore and fifth period weight training student Griffin Mittleman said. “I also don’t have my keys, which makes getting into my house a problem.”Mittleman says he thinks it is likely that his possessions were burned in the fire.“The fires were started in the main area of the locker room, where I keep all my stuff,” Mittleman said. “There is also a locker full of highly flammable paper right next to mine, which is dangerous for obvious reasons. It was one of those lockers that everyone throws their trash in and it seems likely to me that it would catch fire or be a target for an arsonist.”According to Kurtenbach, the school is not responsible for any property damages suffered by the students, but the admin will still attempt to retrieve possessions.“Students will have to make a police report of damaged items and hopefully get them back,” Kurtenbach said.According to fifth period dance student and senior Ivon Muñoz, students practicing in the dance room were asked to leave their belongings behind when they evacuated the building during the fire, leaving some students without shoes. However, the Samo administration made an effort to get the dance class students’ possessions out of the building while it was still quarantined.“The police and fire department put the stuff they thought belonged to us in a plastic bag. They then called us in one by one with all of the college counselors and some police officers to make sure that the sealed bag we opened contained all of our stuff,” Muñoz said.According to Kurtenbach, the school reacted remarkably well to the fire despite the difficulties it has presented in the aftermath.“I think the students and staff should be congratulated for evacuating safely and efficiently,” Kurtenbach said. “There were three false alarms earlier this year, which usually makes people hesitant to follow the protocol, but everyone still followed the rules.”However, not all students have had their belongings returned to them. Many students are anxious to know if their belongings were damaged in the fire.“If my stuff isn’t a pile of ashes, even though it might be, I hope the school can hurry up its investigation and get it all back to me and the other students affected,” Mittleman said. “Even letting us know which lockers were damaged would help, because it makes everyone anxious to be kept in the dark like this.”jpitsker@thesamohi.com