Royal Oak

District: Student confesses to setting fire at ROMS

By Jeremy Carroll
C & G Staff Writer

ROYAL OAK — A Royal Oak Middle School student has admitted to starting a fire in a second-floor boy’s bathroom at the school on March 23, which forced the evacuation of the entire school, the district’s superintendent said.

Superintendent Tom Moline said a student had confessed on the day of the incident. Royal Oak police wouldn’t confirm that a student had confessed, but said there were three suspects, two 12-year-old students and one 13-year-old student.

“The case is still an open investigation for us,” said Sgt. Robert Reilly with the Royal Oak Police Department. “There are definite suspects.”

The district’s fire alarm system was activated at 10:24 a.m. as a result of a fire that started in a toilet-paper holder, the district said to parents in a letter.

“The sprinkler system was activated at that location and water damage has been restricted to that particular location,” the letter, sent through e-mail, said.

After the fire was extinguished, students were brought into the gymnasium until lunch. While students in the sixth- and eighth-grade were able to return to their classrooms after lunch, seventh-graders — whose area of the school was most affected by the fire — were moved to and stayed in the auditorium for the rest of the day, Reilly said.

Royal Oak Fire Chief Wil White said when the department arrived at the scene, the sprinklers had already extinguished the fire.

He said there was a “medium” amount of damage to the bathroom itself, and the department was helping custodians control the water, which was running out of the bathroom. White said there were hundreds of gallons of water on the floors as a result of the sprinkler system going off.

“We are going to be working with the school and the police to find out what happened,” White said.

Both police and fire officials said there were no injuries as a result of the fire.

Reilly said his department is working closely with the Fire Department in their arson investigation, and expects the department to send the case to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office for prosecution after their investigation is wrapped up.

The fire marked the second time in recent years that the building, located at 709 N. Washington, was hit by arson. During the transition from Dondero High School to Royal Oak Middle School, the gymnasium was destroyed by fire in October 2006.

In that fire, Terrance Kerti of Ortonville and William Richard Diamond of Clawson pleaded guilty to breaking into the school and setting the fire. Kerti admitted to setting fire to a couch inside the building, which eventually caused more than $4.5 million in damages. Diamond admitted to being an accomplice in the incident.

Kerti was sentenced to a minimum of four years in jail, while Diamond was sentenced to a year in jail.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jeremy Carroll at jcarroll@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1110.