TEENS ARRESTED IN SCHOOL BLAZE FIRE DESTROYED NEW PLAYGROUND.

Byline: Sue Doyle Staff Writer

SAUGUS - Two Canyon Country teens have been arrested on suspicion of setting a fire that devoured an elementary school's new playground.

The 16-year-olds, who attend Canyon High School and Opportunities for Learning, were arrested separately last week and then released to their parents, a sheriff's official said Monday. Because the boys are minors, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department would not release their names.

The arrests follow a nearly two-month-long arson investigation at Rio Vista Elementary School where a jungle gym, swing bars and slides burned to the ground the evening of Dec. 19. Arson investigators estimated damage at about $140,000 in what's considered the worst case of vandalism to ever hit the Saugus Union School District.

An anonymous tip led to the boys' arrests, said sheriff's Detective Pat O'Neill of the department's Juvenile and Gang Unit. The case has been turned over to prosecutors in Sylmar who handle juvenile cases.

``If it wasn't for citizens' participation in this case, we wouldn't have solved it,'' O'Neill said.

O'Neill said a plastic trash can near the playground was set on fire and then melted into a rubber mat that provided padding over piles of wood chips. The fire escalated from there.

Residents who lived in nearby hills and saw the flames that night called the Fire Department. The school was closed at that time for the winter holidays.

The fire had shaken the neighborhood around the school and left children wondering why their playground burned down. It also left parents and teachers looking for answers to questions about a crime that didn't make any sense.

Parents and pupils are finding solace now as news of the arrests spreads, said Isa DeArmas, principal.

``It was a relief. I did have concerns that we'd have a repeat incident,'' she said. ``It was good to have closure.''

The school did have a second fire, but it was on a much smaller scale. Firecrackers were found on the ground near bits and pieces of a shirt and other material by a school bench that had been set on fire. The fire didn't reach beyond the bench. School employees made the discovery Jan. 23 as the school day was starting.

O'Neill said the arrested teens were asked about the second fire, but that they said they didn't know about it. They were not charged in connection with the Jan. 23 fire.

Sue Doyle, [phone]

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com