Authorities are investigating a suspicious fire that caused extensive damage to a portable classroom at a Hialeah elementary school late Monday night.
The fire broke out some time between 10:30 and 11 p.m. at Meadowlane Elementary at 4280 W. 8th Avenue, officials said.
The fire was quickly extinguished and the portable classroom wasn't close to any other structures so it didn't spread. No one was injured.
Officials called the fire suspicious and said investigators are looking into it.
Students and parents were shocked to find the badly burned building when they arrived for classes Tuesday morning.
"First thing my son said was 'daddy they tried to burn down our school,'" said Kevin Blake, whose two kids attend the school.
Some parents were also worried about how their young children will try and make sense of someone possibly setting fire to part of their school.
"There’s maybe a little fear of people coming in and hurting them, also maybe a little anger. These kids love their school," father Nicholas Gandulla said.
"The beautiful thing about this school is you get a chance to actually get to sit down and eat breakfast with your kids and when they see that, psychologically that’s not a good thing for any kid to see that," Blake said.
The portable classroom was slated for demolition soon and was not being used for class. No classes were disrupted Tuesday for the students.
Check back with NBC 6 South Florida and NBC6.com for updates.
