FREDERICKTOWN — A 12-year-old Fredericktown boy has been charged with felony arson and felony vandalism in regard to two fires that were set at the Fredericktown Intermediate School on April 10.
The gasoline and pallets the youth used to start the fires did not ignite the building. The fire department extinguished the fires after being dispatched by an automatic fire alarm at the school at 3:05 a.m.
The Fredericktown Police Department and Fredericktown Community Fire District conducted a joint investigation into the fires. Fredericktown Police Officer Beau Ayers signed the two felony charges this week. The youth will be arraigned in juvenile court.
“The consequences of the actions of this individual could have endangered the lives of many firefighters who would have had to battle a large fire,” said Fire Chief Scott Mast.
Fredericktown School Superintendent Dan Humphrey said the schools have not taken action against the boy at this time.
“It’s in the prosecutor’s hands,” Humphrey said. “There was minimal damage to the school, but it could have been catastrophic.”
Fredericktown Police Lt. Jay Sheffer said the cooperation between departments led to a swift naming of a suspect.
Mast agreed.
“It was the cooperation between the two departments that led to the apprehension of the suspect,” he said.
Fredericktown Assistant Fire Chief Larry Schunke said the firefighters who responded believed the fires were set not as a juvenile prank, but as an attempt at serious destruction.
“It was set to start a real fire,” Schunke said. “I don’t believe it was a prank.”
