Three Arrested After Fires in School Restrooms

FRANKLIN, Ind. -- Police officers arrested three boys in connection with fires in two restrooms that prompted the evacuation Friday of about 1,300 children from a middle school.

The fires at Custer Baker Middle School caused minor damage, police said. Investigators said a 14-year-old boy set the flames.

The first restroom blaze was quickly extinguished, but the second, set in a paper towel dispenser in a restroom near the school's band room, set off fire alarms about 8 a.m. and the sprinkler system doused the fire before firefighters arrived.

About 1,300 students were evacuated as the school's sprinkler system kicked in. They were allowed back in the building about 90 minutes later, after the smoke cleared and the school was thoroughly checked.

The 14-year-old told Johnson County sheriff's deputies he was upset with a teacher and wanted to "burn down the school so I wouldn't have to deal with them," a police report said.

Another 14-year-old boy and a 12-year-old boy also were arrested after the fire in the city about 15 miles south of Indianapolis.