Wis. Elementary School Fire Investigated as Arson

May 01--A suspicious early morning fire on Tuesday, April 30, caused extensive damage to St. Croix Central Elementary School in Roberts, Wis., shuttering the school for the rest of the school year and displacing more than 600 students.

The school is considered a crime scene as investigators work to determine the cause of the blaze, which firefighters responded to about 4 a.m., Roberts Police Chief Dan Burgess said Tuesday. No one was injured.

"We're treating it as an arson until we know otherwise," Burgess said.

On Tuesday night, Burgess said in a news release that there had been a break-in at the school before the fire broke out.

St. Croix Central School District Superintendent David Bradley said it was his understanding the fire was contained to the school's office area, but smoke damaged much of the rest of the building. The fire forced the school to close for the rest of the school year, but Bradley said he hopes it will reopen in the fall.

"It's a terrible thing to happen," Bradley said. "There were so many staff members standing outside in tears. They've given their lives to the district and the elementary and the kids, and to see it literally go up in flames is just heartbreaking."

Classes were canceled for the rest of the week for the 624 K-4 students as administrators worked to find alternative learning environments, Bradley said. He hopes suitable locations for the students will be found by Monday, he added.

While administrators from neighboring

school districts have reached out to help, their elementary schools are largely full because of the area's growing population, Bradley said. Among other locations being considered are camps and former school buildings.

Bradley said there were 26 days of the school year left, and he was concerned about the closure's impact on the kids' education.

"When you take away an eighth of the instructional time for five grade levels, it's going to have a huge, negative impact on student learning, not only this year but for years to come," he said. "To me, that's the biggest loss."

Burgess said firefighters from several agencies responded to the fire and fought it for a couple of hours. They spent a couple more hours searching for and extinguishing hot spots.

"(The fire) got into the ceiling, and that has a tendency to cause quite a bit of trouble," he said.

Investigators are asking for the public's help in reporting anything suspicious or out of the ordinary in the area near the school Monday night. Those with information can call St. Croix County dispatch at 715-386-4701 and remain anonymous.

The St. Croix County sheriff's office and the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation are assisting the Roberts Police Department in the investigation.

Andy Rathbun can be reached at 651-228-2121. Follow him at twitter.com/andyrathbun.

Copyright 2013 - Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.