An arson investigation continued Monday after playgrounds at two Little Rock elementary schools were set on fire less than two days apart.
Little Rock Fire Department spokesman Capt. Edwin Woolf said the agency had reviewed surveillance footage from Geyer Springs Elementary School and Franklin Incentive Elementary School. No suspects had been identified and no evidence had been found linking the two fires, he said.
Woolf added that investigators hadn't ruled out a connection between the blazes.
"We don't have any information that says the same person did this, but we don't have any information that says the same person didn't do this," he said.
Little Rock School District spokesman Pamela Smith said the fires caused more than $200,000 in total damage.
The blaze at Geyer Springs elementary, 5240 Mabelvale Pike, occurred around midday Sunday.
Smith said surveillance footage from the school yielded no leads. But cameras at Franklin Incentive elementary at 1701 S. Harrison St. recorded three "individuals" -- one wearing a backpack and riding a bicycle -- approaching the playground before it became "engulfed in flames."
Smith said late Monday afternoon she was preparing the video to be released to media outlets. She said the school district was seeking help from the public to identify those at the scene.
The playgrounds at both schools, which were reduced to piles of melted plastic and ash-blackened metal, remained cordoned off Monday.
"It's going to be cordoned off for some time, obviously, because once they're finished processing the scene, we'll have to get in there and do some cleanup and remove the equipment from the scene, and install new equipment," Smith said.
The Fair Park Residents Association, an organization of residential and commercial occupants of the Oak Forest subdivision, announced Monday it was collecting donations on GoFundMe.com to replace playground equipment at Franklin Incentive school.
Superintendent Baker Kurrus said in a statement that it was unclear if the school district could accept the donations. The district was examining its insurance options.
"We know [the fundraiser] is in good faith, but it is becoming a problem because the effort is not controlled by the district, and we have no policies for such efforts if others undertake them. With that in mind, it would be best to take this down until we can get some policies which address how it should be done," Kurrus said.
Metro on 08/04/2015