Bristol Building Blaze Was Arson, Fire Marshal Says

BRISTOL TOWNSHIP, PA —A fire in a vacant township building early Saturday morning has been deemed arson, fire officials said.

Bristol Township Fire Marshal and Fire Chief Kevin T. Dippolito said fire crews responded to the vacant Willie Wee Learning Center on Norton Avenue at 2:36 a.m. Saturday for the report of a fire.

A 911 caller stated there were kids trapped in the basement, but no one was found in or outside the building when the police and fire department arrived.

Dippolito said the fire was contained to a storage closet in the basement.

The building —owned by the Norton Ave Baptist Church —is slated along with several others around it for demolition to make way for a three-story apartment. building.

A church representative stated homeless individuals have been found in the building in the past, Dippolito said.

He said that one building, a former food pantry, had been the site of an arson earlier on Jan 13.

The Third District Fire Company, the Croydon, Edgely, Levittown No. 1, Levittown No. 2, and Newportville fire companies responded to the fire.