HARRISON TWP. — UPDATE @ 3:35 p.m. (July 8):
A man has been arrested and is facing charges stemming from a fire that broke out at the former Valerie Elementary School in Harrison Twp. late Tuesday night, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
The man, who was not identified, was located and arrested after deputies found the former school building on Bradwood Drive was on fire. He is facing preliminary charges of arson and breaking and entering, according to a media release from the sheriff’s office.
Deputies were first called to the vacant school building just before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday on reports of people inside the building. Deputies found a group of 10 to 15 people running from the building when they approached it.
Additional details were not available.
FIRST REPORT:
The fire at the old Valerie Elementary School in Harrison Twp. is being investigated as suspicious, Battalion Chief Darrin Wiseman said.
Crews found fire through the roof of the vacant one-story school building, 4020 Bradwood Drive, and had a little trouble getting to the building because of fencing that surrounds it.
Dayton Public Schools has been maintaining the building, a spokeswoman said.
Wiseman said he believes sheriff’s deputies have at least one person detained. He could not confirm a report from the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch that callers said as many as 15 juveniles were seen running from the building as the fire was reported about 10:20 p.m. Tuesday.
“This building has been vandalized quite a few times in the last few years,” Wiseman said. “With everything shut down, it gives kids who don’t have anything to do, they find things for themselves to do.”
The cause of the fire is being listed as suspicious for now, despite the reports of juveniles in the area. An arson investigator was being brought in, he said.
The preliminary investigation shows the fire was set in the area of the gym and flames may have reached some classrooms and hallways, he said.
Crews from Butler Twp., Clayton, Dayton, Englewood and Trotwood were on scene to help.
There were no injuries.
The former Valerie building, 4020 Bradwood Drive, was constructed in 1966 and closed by the Dayton Public School district in summer 2018.
Valerie now is at 3871 Yellowstone Avenue.
The old elementary school does have a fence around it to keep people from getting inside, but Tom Boomarshine, who lives nearby, said it’s not enough to prevent people from getting in.
“Kids are going to climb that, so it’s probably good to have the fence,” he said. “But not if it creates a situation where there’s a clear notice that this is an abandoned property and nobody is taking care of it.”
Boomarshine said he worries about what the current condition of the property, with the overgrown grass and boarded up windows, gives to people looking to cause trouble.
“With the grass not being mowed, I was concerned that there would be an invitation to vandalism,” Boomarshine said.
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