BATH — The state Fire Marshal’s Office and Bath police are investigating an arson at a child care center in Bath.

Police say they think that the person who started the fire around 4:20 p.m. Thursday got into the building on Davenport Circle by removing an air conditioner from a window, said Lt. Robert Savary.

He wouldn’t say how the fire was started, but said accelerants were found at the scene.

Savary said no arrests have been made and police are not searching for a suspect, but he wouldn’t go into more detail.

No one was in the three-story building, owned by the Family Focus child care center, when the fire started, said Bob Parlin, executive director of the agency.

Parlin said the fire was contained to a room that’s leased by Providence Service Corp.’s Merrymeeting Center for Child Development.

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Sprinklers, which quickly put out the fire, caused water damage to rooms on the floor below, also occupied by the Merrymeeting Center, which cares for about 20 children, Parlin said.

He said the child care center was closed Friday but he believed arrangements had been made to resume its services elsewhere Monday.

Rooms occupied by Family Focus, which cares for about 50 children in the building, were not damaged and were used Friday.

The building was closed Thursday for the Fourth of July holiday. Savary said he believes it was apparent to the person who started the fire that the building was not occupied at the time. The building doesn’t resemble a daycare center and only has a small sign over the door identifying it as “Family Focus.”

“That this sort of damage could happen in a child care facility is upsetting to all of us and our families, too,” Parlin said.

Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at 791-6364 or at:

lbridgers@pressherald.com


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