3 Kids Playing Caused Muslim School Building Fire: Police

BRISTOL TOWNSHIP, PA — Three children who were playing with a cigarette lighter were responsible for the fire that damaged a school building owned by a Muslim group on Monday, according to authorities.

Fire Marshal Kevin Dippolito confirmed Tuesday that charges are pending against three juveniles in the fire, citing information from the Bristol Township Police Department. The children are students at the school, Dippolito said.

Bristol Township detectives and the Philadelphia office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had been working Tuesday to investigate the blaze, said township Fire Marshal Kevin Dippolito.

The fire happened at around 4:30 p.m. Monday at the United American Muslim Association School on Bristol-Emilie Road. Dippolito said the fire started in a storage room on the second floor that was filled with boxes of paper towels.

The fire caused heavy damage to the storage room and smoke damage on all three floors of the building, Dippolito said. No one else is believed to have been at the school at the time the fire broke out and there were no injuries, he said.

Charlene Hennessy, a spokeswoman with the ATF's Philadelphia office, confirmed that the bureau responded to a call to assist in the investigation on Monday .

The New York-based Muslim association, dedicated to meeting the religious and spiritual needs of Muslims living in the United States, bought the school building in 2016.

It is the former site of the Immaculate Conception B.V.M. Catholic School. The association bought the building and neighboring church building from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and plans to operate a school there.

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