School buses set on fire following break-in at Phoenix preschool

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — The owner of a Phoenix preschool and day care is devastated and shocked after two of her school buses were destroyed. Surveillance video captures the moment the buses went up in flames and then shows two people running away. “It is very upsetting, initially I think that I was in shock,” said Jenell Jones.

Jones is the owner of Cactus Kids Preschool on Indian School and 75th Avenue. She says early Saturday morning, two people broke into the gate where the buses are parked. Jones believes someone was trying to steal gas and that sparked the fire. “I think they got on their back and they were trying to drill with an electric drill and that sparked and ignited,” said Jones.

The Phoenix Fire Department said its task force is investigating how the fire started. Meanwhile, Jones says she is heartbroken over the destruction and how it is impacting her students. “It is very upsetting. The kids are sad because the thing about it, we are a low income area so a lot of the field trips that we do, this is their summer. So if we are not doing things with them, they are not going home to do them,” said Jones.

Jones said it is still unclear how much insurance will cover and with the school year coming up, time is running out. “We provide free child care. We provide free diapers and wipes, we give quality education, we provide home cooked meals for children who may not have food. So you do this and this really hurts. I don’t know how we are going to recover,” said Jones. Jones set up a GoFundMe page. If you would like to help, click/tap here.

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