Two Ooltewah High School students have been arrested and face multiple charges, accused of setting fires in the school's bathrooms Wednesday afternoon.
One 9th grader was arrested around 11 am Wednesday for pulling a false fire alarm.
Then, 2 hours later around 1 pm, school officials discovered fires set in metal garbage cans in two different bathrooms. The school was evacuated for more than an hour.
Hamilton County Sheriff Dept. spokesperson Janice Atkinson confirms that today there have been two more arrests in connection with those fires. Two unidentified 9th graders, one 15 and one 16, are each charged with Aggravated Arson, Reckless Endangerment and Disrupting a Lawful Meeting.
Atkinson said she did not know if the afternoon arson cases were in any way related to the earlier false alarm or not.
Hamilton County Schools spokesperson Danielle Clark said that during morning announcements, Ooltewah school officials referenced posters that are in the cafeteria detailing the Tennessee Arson Hotline and a possible $1,500 reward, suggesting that students take a look if they wanted more information.
However Christopher Garrett, a spokesperson with the Tennessee Dept. of Commerce & Insurance, said that no calls were placed to the Arson Hotline today regarding the Ooltewah High School case.