OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — Two teenagers are accused of arson after they allegedly set fire to a girls restroom at Niceville High School causing an evacuation and $2500 in damages, authorities said Wednesday.
Cadence Yates and Emily Kempton, both 15, were arrested by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s
Office on charges of arson, (a first-degree felony), and disruption of a school function.
The School Resource Officer located the fire in Building 600 and immediately began putting it out, officials wrote in a news release. Once the Fire Department deemed it safe, students were allowed back into their classrooms.
The two potential suspects were identified quickly through numerous tips, including Emerald Coast
Crime Stoppers, and ultimately admitted using a lighter to ignite a large roll of toilet paper inside a stall as a “joke”. The fire quickly grew out of control, deputies wrote.
Video surveillance shows the pair leaving the bathroom together around 9 a.m. and returning about
seven minutes later to open the door. Smoke can then be seen coming out of the restroom. Yates and
Kempton immediately left the area, deputies wrote.
In addition to arson and disruption of a school function, Yates is also charged with violation of
probation for an original charge of grand theft auto.