Girl, 12, charged in arson on Kaua'i
By Jan TenBruggencate and Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Staff Writers
KALAHEO, Kaua'i — Police on Kaua'i have charged a 12-year-old Kalaheo girl with criminal property damage in connection with the May 7 fire that destroyed a Kalaheo School building and damaged adjacent structures.
It was the third time in a month that a Hawai'i juvenile has been linked to a serious fire.
The Kaua'i girl was detained by police and booked, then released into the custody of her parents. She apparently was not a pupil at the school, which has children in classes from kindergarten through Grade 5, but it was not known whether she once had been a pupil there.
Daniel Hamada, Kaua'i Complex Area superintendent with the Department of Education, said he was told police believed that more than one person was involved in the arson.
Prosecuting Attorney Craig De Costa said police also told his office that the investigation has involved more than one suspect and is continuing.
The blaze destroyed the elementary school's 100-year-old administration building and six classrooms. The community came out in force to clean up the campus after the fire, and the effort resulted in the school's being closed only one day.
Bruce Herbig, a counselor at Kalaheo School, said he believes he's speaking for the school community when he says that he is sad for the child who was arrested and for her family.
"My sympathy goes out. ... I truly believe in my heart that it was not with bad intent, that it was a prank gone wrong."
Herbig said that witnesses from the night of the fire believe it started in the Lost and Found box outside the school office. He also said clothing was strung up the flagpole. After the fire, the clothing items were removed by police as evidence.
"I hope I can speak for everybody here in hoping that these young people who did this learn a lesson and go on to become productive citizens," he said. "We hold no grudge. We just wish the best for this person and we hope they overcome this."
Principal Erik Burkman reiterated that the school has taken a compassionate stance.
"Our school position is we forgive them," said Burkman. "We've forgiven them and we're moving forward. As far as the school is concerned, we want them to get their lives on track and deal with the consequences as best they can. ... We don't want a very, very big inconvenience to become a tragedy. We don't want some child to be scared to hear that the school is angry and then to have them go and do something stupid."
Hamada said four portable classrooms are being shipped to Kaua'i and funding is being sought for additional temporary structures before school resumes after the summer break. Kalaheo School ended the semester holding classes in the library and other spaces.
Hamada said DOE officials also are working with legislators to get money for new buildings.
On O'ahu, a 13-year-old Nanakuli boy was charged May 19 with second-degree criminal property damage after the week-long fires that raged through 3,000 acres of Wai'anae in mid-May. Witnesses told police they saw the boy set fire to grass near Nanakuli Cemetery on May 10.
In another case, a teenage boy turned himself in after a brushfire burned 50 acres at Kalaeloa two weeks ago. In that case, the boy told police he had been playing with fireworks and inadvertently started the blaze.
As for the arrest of the girl on Kaua'i, Herbig said: "We hope something positive comes out of it like it has (for) our school. It has brought us all around together."
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at (808) 245-3074 or jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.
