A fire shut down South View High School in Hope Mills on Wednesday, and authorities now think the fire was intentionally set.
HOPE MILLS, N.C. -- A fire shut down South View High School in Hope Mills on Wednesday, and authorities now think the fire was intentionally set. School officials canceled classes, and even though some students were happy to get the day off, they said they were upset by what happened.
“Some idiots did it. It's not right,” said student Thomas Boland.
The school will make up for the lost day. That could include using a teacher work day or possibly adding on to the end of the school year.
"It's kind of stupid now. I guess the people don't realize that we're going to have to make it up eventually. They're not going to avoid whatever they're trying to get out of,” added student Caleb Thompson.
Firefighters say the two-alarm fire, which broke out just after 3:15 a.m., was contained to the library.
Crews spent the day cleaning up the media center, where officials said the damage was contained. School officials said someone broke into the building from the back and set fire inside the library. They expect repairs to take two weeks to three weeks.
The cleanup may be a long process, but school system officials said, while unfortunate, they do have experience with this. There have been three intentionally set fires at local high schools within the last five years. Suspects in those cases have since been arrested and charged.
School officials are hoping for a similar result here.
"You know, it’s just senseless. My guess is that it's probably involving somebody in the community that's teed off at the school about something,” said Associate Superintendent Tim Kinlaw.
Kinlaw estimates that about $75,000 worth of damage was done to the media center.
"I hope they catch them,” said parent Bridget Thompson. “I hope they do. It's taxpayer money that's going to have to fix that, and these kids need to be in class."
Investigators hope to find whoever is responsible on the school's security video. Minor damage was also done to a portable classroom nearby. Arson investigators believe someone tried to set that on fire, as well.
Classes at South View High School are set to resume as normal Thursday.