THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610030019
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 28 lines
In reference to your Sept. 27 article, ``Four may be tried as adults in torching of Windsor Oaks'':
Defense attorney Russell Fentress said of the judge's decision to transfer the case to Circuit Court, ``I think it was partly political.'' He should read the newspaper more often.
Let's begin with the loss of two firefighters in the line of duty eight weeks before this ``torching'' spree, to borrow a term from another defense attorney, Emma Simpson. Then there was the three-alarm fire at Princess Anne High School, which risked the lives of firefighters on interior hose lines.
All fifth-graders in Virginia Beach public schools take a fire education course. They know that firefighters have to enter burning buildings to extinguish a fire. Arson kills. It kills people, pets, jobs, property, futures and firefighters.
The four students accused of setting fire to the Windsor Oaks school should be tried as adults. There is no politics in a raging fire. It destroys everything in its path.
MARTIN C. GRUBE
Master firefighter
Virginia Beach Fire Department
Virginia Beach, Sept. 27, 1996 by CNB