WEST HAVEN, Utah, March 4, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — An 11-year-old student at West Haven Elementary is likely to face charges in juvenile court after a fire Tuesday caused the school to be evacuated.
The automatic fire suppression system activated just before the school’s 8:10 a.m. start time. The fire was in a boys’ restroom.
“We believe it was an 11-year-old student who intentionally started the fire, and it’s my understanding that they will be facing arson charges, so they will be charged criminally with starting fire,” said Lane Findlay, spokesman for the Weber School District.
The fire was out quickly, doused by the sprinkler system and firefighters who arrived quickly, Findlay said. Many students had not yet entered the building, but those who had were evacuated and moved to a safe area, a nearby church.
“We were fortunate the fire was contained to one room, but we did have a lot of smoke in the building, and we had a lot of water accumulation from the sprinkler system in the hallway and in the commons area.”
So officials decided to reunify students with their parents, guardians or other emergency contacts, and to spend Tuesday cleaning up smoke and water damage so students can return Wednesday.
No one was injured as a result of the incident, Findlay said, and students — who are used to regularly scheduled evacuation drills — remained calm.
“Our teachers, staff and support professionals are so wonderful, and we have a district reunification team that comes in and works through the process, and the students get treats,” Findlay said. “It probably took about three hours to get everyone reunified. We really have a great team.”
Before noon, a disaster cleanup business was on scene, using water vacuums on the puddles. The involved bathroom may need additional repairs that require its continued closure, Findlay said, but he expects everything else to be in shape for students’ return by Wednesday.
