THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, May 24, 1996                  TAG: 9605240651
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL  
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT                     LENGTH:   31 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** John Yeates Middle School, which sustained some fire damage Thursday, is in Suffolk. A Metro brief Friday erroneously had the location as Isle of Wight. Correction published Saturday, May 25, 1996. ***************************************************************** STUDENTS EVACUATED FROM FIRE

Students at John Yeates Middle School were evacuated Thursday morning for a fire that destroyed a trash can and caused smoke damage to the school on Bennetts Pasture Road.

No injuries were reported.

Driver volunteer firefighters extinguished the blaze in a trash can in the boys' bathroom. The cause of the fire, which was reported about 11:42 a.m., is under investigation by the fire marshal, said fire spokesman Jeff Messinger.

Damage to the trash can was estimated at $40 and smoke damage to the bathroom was estimated at $400, he said.

An eighth-grader was suspended for starting the fire, a school spokesman said Thursday. The student likely will be expelled, he said, and school officials also will urge authorities to press charges.

KEYWORDS: FIRES by CNB