A fire ripped through the teacher's lounge at Aviara Oaks Elementary School, causing as much as $250,000 in damages, and investigators believe it was caused by arson.
Firefighters responded to the fire at the school, at 6900 Ambrosia Lane in Carlsbad, at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Fire crews from Carlsbad and Encinitas were able to keep the damage to just one building, but Bob Wolfe with the Carlsbad Unified School District estimated the damage to be extensive and could cost the school $250,000 to repair.
Fire investigators with the Carlsbad police department say they've already eliminated most normal causes for a fire.
"When you do that, you know that something helped it start," said Jim Weigand, Carlsbad Fire Marshal.
Weigand told news crews on the scene that the fire was confined to the teachers’ lounge and that school is expected to go on today.
With tax dollars paying for the building, Weigand said his team is committed to finding out what exactly happened to the building.
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“This is about the last thing our school district needed and it’s a tragedy for the whole community,” he said.
Weigand said fire investigators will talk with teachers about what was in the room and what wasn't in the room to try and determine the cause of the fire.
Check back for details on this developing story.
