Fires set in 2 bathrooms at Yarmouth high school, youth charged with arson

The Yarmouth RCMP has charged a youth after two small fires were deliberately set at a local high school over the noon hour on Tuesday.

In a release, police say they responded to a fire at the Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School on Forest Street around 1:40 p.m. that afternoon. The local fire department was already at the scene and all students and staff were evacuated.

“Through the course of the investigation, police determined that a youth had set two fires in the school,” it said.

The young person was arrested without incident and was later released on conditions. They will appear in court at a later date to face charges of arson and mischief over $5,000.

Mike Deveau, the fire chief with the Yarmouth Fire Department, said one of the fires was in the girls’ bathroom on the second floor, which “did not take hold and went out in the garbage, essentially.”

The other was in the girls’ bathroom on the first floor, which set off the sprinkler system.

Deveau said the fire damage was “negligible,” while the water damage seemed “fairly negligible.” He said the fires were out when firefighters arrived, but they helped to mitigate the water damage by using squeegees and other equipment to get rid of the water.

He said nobody was hurt.

“It had some potential, but the building was sprinklered, which helped mitigate a lot of the risk,” he said. “As well as the fact that we have a lot of incredible volunteers and staff on duty here, and they did a wonderful job.”

In a statement, Ashley Gallant, the spokesperson for the Tri-County Regional Centre for Education, said the school was evacuated after the fires were set and students were dismissed at 1:45 p.m.

The school was closed Wednesday, but will reopen Thursday.

“Cleanup is now complete and classes will resume tomorrow,” she said.