A 15-year-old Little Rock boy has been charged in one of two cases of suspected arson at school playgrounds during the summer, authorities said.
Firefighters responded to a playground fire July 31 at Franklin Incentive Elementary School, 1701 S. Harrison St., that took about 30 minutes to extinguish.
The Little Rock Fire Department said the boy's parents turned him in Wednesday after he confessed to taking a cigarette lighter onto the school's playground, starting a fire that destroyed equipment and leaving the scene.
The boy, who was jailed at a juvenile detention center Wednesday, has a November court hearing on a Class Y felony charge of arson, the fire department said.
Little Rock police and fire departments investigated the Franklin Elementary School case as well as a second playground fire two days later — a suspected arson Aug. 2 at Geyer Springs Elementary School, 5240 Mabelvale Pike.
Authorities said they continue to investigate whether the crimes are connected.