Boys Charged in 2003 Springfield, Oregon School Fire

Aug. 18, 2004
Two teenagers have been charged with starting last summer's fire that destroyed the gymnasium and cafeteria at Goshen Elementary School.
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (AP) -- Two teenagers have been charged with starting last summer's fire that destroyed the gymnasium and cafeteria at Goshen Elementary School.

The boys are both 14. The authorities did not provide their names.

One boy was caught setting brush fires in Springfield this spring and his cooperation led authorities to the second boy, Springfield fire department spokesman Mark Walker said.

Both boys attend a private school in Eugene and were staying at a home near Goshen Elementary School last summer, Walker said.

Goshen students spent the past school year eating brown-bag lunches served in a classroom at the school. A new $1.4 million gymnasium/cafeteria building won't be completed until the 2005-06 school year, said Steve Barrett, deputy superintendent of the Springfield School District.

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