25-year-old man facing arson charge after Hornby Island school fire

WATCH: It was a big day for a small group of students returning to school on Hornby Island. The community’s only school was damaged in a fire last week so officials were scrambling to make sure their first day back in class was as normal as possible. Dean Stoltz reports.

A 25-year-old man is facing an arson charge after a fire destroyed roughly a third of the Hornby Island Community School.

The fire, which investigators deemed suspicious, broke out at the school at around 2 a.m. on Aug. 26.

The blaze gutted classrooms and the gymnasium and the building is now considered unsafe.

On Tuesday, Comox Valley RCMP said the 25-year-old from the Comox Valley, was arrested on Sept. 3 in connection with the fire. He has been charged with one count of arson damaging property. His name is now the subject of a publication ban.

The kindergarten-to-Grade 7 students at the school are attending their first week of classes at the Tribune Bay Outdoor Education Centre on the island. They will then move to a community centre near the school fields while a modular school unit is arranged.

The aftermath of the fire at the Hornby Island Community School on Aug. 26.

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