The Youth Hostel is the home for troubled children - too young to go to jail, but too much trouble to keep at home. But this afternoon, a group of females being housed at the hostel may have been the ones who caused major trouble by burning their dormitory down. The fire started at around 3:30 p.m. and by 4 o'clock, the place was engulfed. 7news was on the scene and Daniel Ortiz spoke to Starla Bradley Acosta, the Director of the Community Rehab Department, under which the Youth Hostel is managed, and she told us what they've been able to confirm so far about the fire:
Starla Bradley- Acosta - Director, Community Rehabilitation Department
"This has indeed destroyed the female dormitory - all the contents. It allegedly started in one of the dorms to the back. We are still trying to ascertain exactly what happened and we are working along with the police. It is the girl's dormitory. Some of the girls were actually in the building at the time the fire started and so we just managed to quickly get them out and try to contain them. Right now everybody is highly emotional. One of the challenges with working with this population is the fact that a lot of the children do have severe mental illness and so quite often there are challenges that come along with that and so, the fire department has just inform that the fire is not out. Pretty much, everything that was in the building was destroyed."
Daniel Ortiz
"Ma'am, the suspicion we are getting from unconfirmed sources is that it is arson. Is that indeed the suspicion that you all have as well?"
Starla Bradley- Acosta
"I've heard varying stories and that why we have to ascertain what happened. All we know that a mattress in the back was ablaze when the officers opened the dorm and from there they just try to quickly get everybody out."
Reporter
"Are you able to speak to us about the value of the building and the contents?"
Starla Bradley- Acosta
"Not at this time."
Reporter
"Are any of the girls being questioned by police?"
Starla Bradley- Acosta
"A few of them went along with the police; a male and female officer for questioning."
We stress that while arson is suspected to be the cause, the fire investigators will be the one to officially declare that a crime was committed. The young women who were taken into police custody were questioned by Hattieville Police.
While the Director of the Youth Hostel couldn't tell us what the value of the dormitory is, she did explain that there were plans to renovate it in 2 months. The total cost for those renovations would have been $300,000.
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