Yorkton Regional High School had to be evacuated Monday when someone lit a fire in one of the washrooms.
The unknown suspect lit the toilet paper roll in one of the stalls in the men’s washroom directly across from the main office just as school was getting ready to be let out for the day.
Fire Chief Trevor Morrissey said the fire was contained to that one stall and damage was limited to the dispenser, which was destroyed and the ceiling tiles, which sustained heat damage.
The fire was certainly intentionally set, Morrissey said. In conjunction with the RCMP an investigation is underway that will rely on evidence from the school’s video system.
The chief said the threshold for arson is unlikely to be met and did not want to speculate on what charges will be laid, but it likely fits under the category of criminal mischief.
He also explained that when the culprit or culprits are caught, there will likely be a multi-agency intervention to determine why this happened and what steps can be taken to mitigate future danger of the person or persons repeating the act.
Morrissey also had strong praise for the school’s evacuation plan and its execution, particularly at the end of the school day, which makes it more difficult.
“The school’s evacuation plan worked very well,” he said. “The school staff had everybody outside and they were doing accountability and they gave us an accountability update when we got here; it was seamless.”
