A small fire discovered on a Hillsborough school campus Halloween night is now being investigated as a potential arson case, with police saying there was evidence that gasoline had been poured in the area before the flames broke out. Officers were called to Crocker Middle School at about 6:35 p.m. Saturday after someone reported smoke coming from a paved yard on the property.
Officers arrived to find a pile of plastic and metal springs on fire near the north school multipurpose room, on an adjacent elementary school campus, according to SFGATE. Hillsborough police officers put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, and no injuries were reported. Crocker Middle School sits in the 2600 block of Ralston Avenue in Hillsborough.
Evidence of Gasoline Found at the Scene
Police said there was evidence that gasoline had been poured in the area where the fire was burning, a detail that pushed the case beyond a routine brush or trash fire and into a suspected arson investigation. Central County Fire Department firefighters were called to the scene alongside police. Central County Fire Department provides fire services for the town of Hillsborough, according to the Town of Hillsborough.
To help pin down how the fire started, investigators brought in outside help. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office bomb squad and a Central County Fire Department arson investigator are both assisting with the inquiry, the same SFGATE report notes. No suspect or motive has been identified, and the extent of any property damage has not been disclosed.
A Campus With a Recent Security Scare
The Halloween fire is not the first unusual incident at Crocker School this fall. In September, a man who entered the school and was later linked to a series of credit card frauds was arrested, according to Hillsborough police. The San Mateo Daily Journal reported that officers were dispatched to the school around 1:37 p.m. on Sept. 16 after staff reported an unfamiliar person on campus, a case unrelated to the Halloween fire but one that has kept the school on investigators' radar this season.
San Mateo County's bomb squad has been called to other area schools before. In a separate incident, the unit searched Hillsdale High School after an anonymous threat and found no explosives, per KTVU FOX 2, and students were sent home early as a precaution. The Sheriff's Office bomb squad has also responded to a bomb threat in Belmont, where school buildings were checked and no explosives were found, according to the City of Belmont.
Police Seeking Tips From the Public
Hillsborough police are asking anyone with information about the Halloween fire to call (650) 375-7470 or email [email protected]. For now, the cause remains under investigation, and officials have not said whether the blaze is connected in any way to the earlier trespassing case at the same campus.
