Overview
- Emergency crews from Southern Valley Fire & Rescue, West Fargo Fire and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office responded to a structure fire at Horace High School that filled a second-floor classroom with smoke.
- The building’s automated fire suppression system activated and confined flames and damage to that single classroom, and no one was injured.
- Investigators from the Cass County Sheriff’s Office and Southern Valley Fire & Rescue have classified the case as arson and say a child in the classroom started the fire.
- Authorities are continuing the probe and have not released the juvenile’s identity, any motive, or whether charges will be filed as they coordinate with West Fargo Public Schools.
- The incident raises questions about why a student was in the school after classes had ended on May 21, and officials say school access and juvenile-protection policies are part of the ongoing review.