Colorado investigators find no evidence of arson in fire that damaged school playground, auto shop
A fire that started on a Denver-area school playground, injuring five people, prompting evacuations and damaging several businesses, was not intentionally started by humans, an investigation has concluded.
The fire sparked on Feb. 25 on the playground of Pinnacle Charter School in Thornton near 84th Avenue and Huron Street. Some students watched in fear as the fire grew outside the school windows that afternoon.
The fire damaged several businesses, including an auto shop, injured four firefighters and a resident, and grew to 10 acres before it was contained. On Monday, Thornton Fire Department officials said the exact cause remains unknown, but investigators "have found no indications of criminal intent" and the cause is currently classified as "undetermined."
The fire originated in the mulch bed of the school's playground, and security camera footage showed people walking in the area just before it sparked, but "no suspicious activity was observed" and "no individuals were seen discarding items or placing any objects in the area where the fire began," the fire department said on Monday.
That footage included visible smoke as the wind blew through nearby vegetation. The fire then intensified within the mulch before spreading into that vegetation east of the playground.
The firefighters were all treated for their injuries and released, and while officials did not identify the fifth injured person, they said at the time that none of the injuries were critical.
"The magnitude of response that we send to these incidents is significant. It is our intent to get ahead of these fires so we don't have a spread of conditions like what we experienced during the Marshall Fire," Thornton Fire Chief Steve Kelley said at the time, referring to the fire in nearby Boulder County in 2021 that destroyed more than 1,000 homes.
