An April fire that caused $200,000 in damage to a vacant private elementary school in Cota de Caza was intentionally set, according to fire officials.
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Investigators determined the April 29 fire at Merryhill School, 23432 Vista Del Verde, Trabuco Canyon, had multiple points of origin, a sign of arson, according to Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) Capt. Steve Concialdi.
The blaze inside the school that has been closed since 2008 was reported at 11:36 p.m., and OCFA dispatched 35 firefighters to the scene before a knock down was declared at 1:01 a.m., Concialdi said. One building with three classrooms and a bathroom was destroyed and fire scorched a second building on campus, he added.
The agency is hoping someone will come forward with information to help investigators. If that is you or anyone you know, call investigators at 714.573.6720 or shoot an email to oc**************@oc**.org.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.