Was school set on fire deliberately?

Thick clouds of smoke enveloped the centre of the village of Sins on Sunday evening, alarming the local population. "The emergency call to the fire brigade came to 8.39 p.m.," said Councillor Rico Hartmann at the scene. Some young people had seen smoke coming from the school grounds, and raised the alarm immediately. The fire broke out at the handicraft pavilion behind the secondary school building. "There was a serious risk of explosion, because gas bottles for welding works were stored in these rooms," informed Hartmann. Due to the heavy smoke, a team of firefighters from Dietwil-Oberrüti specially-equipped with breathing protection were called in. A total of 72 firefighters were at the scene.
 
"We first had to cool down the building from the outside with water to reduce the risk of explosion before we could enter it with breathing equipment," said Hartmann. The fire department quickly had the fire under control, thereby preventing any damage to the rest of the building. Four firefighters were taken to hospital in Muri suffering from suspected smoke inhalation hospital.
 
Although no-one was seriously injured, the damage is considerable, and is estimated at around CHF 500,000 according to the cantonal police. The investigators have launched investigations regarding the cause of the fire, with deliberate arson being likely according to the press office of the Cantonal Police Department. Passers-by observed two darkly-clad youths running away from school area soon after fire broke out.
 
Janitor Josef Baur was quickly on the spot, and his vigorous intervention prevented large amounts of smoke entering the other buildings. "Some windows of the high-school building were open. I closed them all immediately."
 
While the investigation was in full swing in the completely devastated pavilion yesterday morning, there was deep concern in the school administration office. Memories of the arson attack on the secondary school house in March 2010 and the Molotov cocktail attack on the Ammannsmatt asylum centre, which was also housed in the building complex, are still very fresh. "Unlike then, we currently have no problems among local young people," said school board President Jacob Sidler. "It's pretty quiet at the school." This is also confirmed municipal secretary Marcel Villiger: "There are currently no problem areas. We can’t explain it. "
 
The handicraft teachers now faced with a ruin. "A lot of individual effort was invested in the establishment of the workshop, the timbered shelves and the other furnishings," says Baur. The restoration of the temporary building, erected in 2011, is going to take some time.
 
Information
Anyone who observed any suspicious activities around the school grounds before or after the outbreak of the fire is asked to report this to the cantonal police, ‘Fahndung Ost’ in Baden (056 200 11 11). A reward of CHF 2,000 is offered by the municipality of Sins for information leading to the identification of the perpetrators.