Arson suspected in Delco high school fire

Arson is suspected in a 3-alarm fire that heavily damaged the Penn Wood High School in Lansdowne overnight and may force it to remain closed for the rest of the academic year, authorities said.

The blaze followed a series of bomb threats at the school that stopped about two weeks ago, said Fire Chief Daniel Kortan.

Noting a back door had been punched in overnight and that fire burned in multiple locations, Kortan declared the blaze suspicious and local, county and state fire marshals were called in to investigate.

Joe Otto, the William Penn School District's chief operating officer, said the school's 700 junior and seniors may not be able to finish the school year in the building. The district's ninth and 10th graders are housed in another building.

He said the district was looking for alternative sites and it would reach out to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to see if it has any available vacant school buildings.

The fire was reported before 4 a.m. and quickly escalated to three alarms before firefighters brought it under a control around 4:30 a.m., Kortan said.

The building dates back to 1927 and was built by contractor John McShain, a Philadelphia native whose work also includes The Pentagon, the Jefferson Memorial, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Kortan said the school had been the target of four or five bomb threats that prompted school officials to hire off-duty police officers to patrol building at night.

But the threats ended about two weeks ago and the patrols were suspended.

"Today there was no threat, simply a fire," Kortan said.

"They have a very good camera system," he said, adding surveillance video could prove crucial to the investigation.

The fire seriously damaged the main entrance, the flames so hot they melted metal closures on the ornate wooden doors.

Two offices and two classrooms also suffered considerable fire, smoke and water damage.

Senior Dwayne Henry looked at his school in disbelief.

"Wow, that's crazy," he said several times. "It's been like my whole life. It's breathtaking."

He said he had no idea who would set a fire at the school but speculated it was someone with a vendetta, possibly a student who had been expelled.

Henry, who is headed to the University of Arizona to study business, had nothing but praise for the school, saying, "the staff and teachers are great."

"To end my senior like this ..." he said, unable to finish his sentence.