State, feds probe fire at private Georgia school

BROOKHAVEN, Ga. (AP) - State and federal authorities are investigating a suspicious fire at a DeKalb County school.

DeKalb fire battalion chief DeJuan Gilchrist tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution firefighters responded to the blaze at St. Martin’s Episcopal School about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. The private school, which teaches students in grades kindergarten through eighth, is in Fields Episcopal Church in Brookhaven.

Georgia Arson Control is offering a $10,000 reward for information regarding the fire, which damaged about 1,000 square feet near the school’s entrance and injured a few animals.

Gilchrist says surveillance video captured someone breaking into the church just before the fire.

Along with DeKalb fire, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is also investigating because the blaze started on a church campus.

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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, https://www.ajc.com