Teen arrested on suspicion of setting fires at Cubberley

CORRECTION: The woman who reported a fire at Cubberley Community Center rents studio space there to make art. A city worker misinterpreted her 911 call and incorrectly said that she lived nearby. This story has been corrected to reflect that fact.

UPDATE, TUESDAY, MAY 2 — A 16-year-old Palo Alto boy has been arrested after lighting two classrooms on fire at the Cubberley Community Center, police said.

The classrooms were used by students with special needs, and their specialized equipment — such as a hoist that lifts students out of a wheelchair — was destroyed, Superintendent Don Austin said.

The suspect is also accused of lighting a picnic table on fire at Ohlone Elementary School, police said.

Firefighters first responded to an alarm at Cubberley just after midnight on Sunday but left after they couldn’t find anything, police said.

An hour later, a woman who has a studio at Cubberley called 911 because she could smell something burning, Battalion Chief Shane Yarbrough said.

Firefighters found the flames burning in classrooms B2 and B3, then entered the building and knocked it down, Yarbrough said.

The fire smoldered in the attic and was finally put out around 3 a.m., he said.

Two classrooms were burned, but an entire wing of five classrooms is no longer being used because of the smell of smoke and potential harmful chemicals in the air, Austin said.

Special needs students were moved to another wing. The district is talking to its insurance provider and hasn’t figured out what the path to repair will be, Austin said.

The fire to a picnic table at Ohlone burned itself out without causing extensive damage. It was started around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday and was discovered later that morning, police said.

The district’s security cameras helped with the investigation, Austin said.

The student was arrested on Monday night at Greer Park at 9 p.m. for arson, a felony. His name won’t be released because he is a juvenile.

ORIGINAL STORY, MONDAY, MAY 1 — Two classrooms at Cubberley Community Center have been badly damaged in a fire, Battalion Chief Shane Yarbrough said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, and police are involved. It started at 1 a.m. on Sunday in the area of some outdoor furniture that was next to the building, Yarbrough said.

An artist who rents space at Cubberley called 911 because she could smell something burning, Yarbrough said.

Firefighters searched the old high school campus to find the fire, which couldn’t be seen from Middlefield Road.

They found the flames burning in classrooms B2 and B3, then entered the building and knocked it down, Yarbrough said.

The fire smoldered in the attic and was finally put out around 3 a.m., he said.

Police Capt. James Reifschneider said police “don’t have any additional information to share at this point,” except that the fire is the subject of an active investigation.