Unknown person sets Grade 3 file cabinet alight after breaking into Golden Grove Primary School

A report of arson is being investigated by the Police and Fire
Department after a filing cabinet was set on fire in a classroom of
the Golden Grove Primary School.

Reports say that – while attending a town hall meeting on the Nut
Grove playing field, at about 8 p.m., on September 28 – a police
inspector observed members of the Fire Brigade entering the

school’s compound and noted there was smoke coming from one of
the buildings.
 
He left the meeting and went to the school, where he saw fire engine
No. 15 and firefighters from the St. John’s Station attempting to
extinguish a filing cabinet that had been set ablaze in a corner of a
Grade 3 classroom. 
 
Further reports say that Sylvester Shoy, the school’s grounds man,
told fire officers that, as was customary, he passed by the school on
his way home and saw smoke coming from the Grade 3 section. He
says he grabbed two buckets of water, entered the classroom, and
saw the filing cabinet on fire. 
 
He then asked a neighbour to call the Fire Department, and a tender
arrived shortly after and completed putting out the fire. 
 
The school’s Principal, Mae Hypolite, is said to have told law-
enforcement officers that the institution had been secured at about
4 p.m. that day and no flammable materials were stored in the
classrooms. 
 
According to Fire officials, it appears that the perpetrator inserted a
hand through a decorative block, thus gaining access to the inner
bolt on a wooden window.

Once it was unlocked, the arsonist entered the classroom and set
fire to the cabinet, which was damaged beyond repair and its
contents destroyed.
 
A search was carried out around the school’s compound and its
surroundings, but no incendiary materials were found.