DeKalb day care destroyed by fire; owner suspects arson

DECATUR, Ga. — A DeKalb County day care was destroyed by a fire early Tuesday morning, and the owner says she suspects foul play.

Nikia Burton owns Daydreams Learning Center on Flakes Mill Road in Decatur. She said someone vandalized her day care on Monday and set small fires in the restroom and throughout the building.

Burton said she believes someone deliberately torched the building, which firefighters said is a total loss. She said her problems began six months ago when two air conditioning units and a day care van were stolen.

"The building is just gutted inside. From the exterior it doesn't look that way because it's a brick structure, but on the inside, it's 100 percent gone," Battalion Chief Christopher Morrison said.

Burton said the day care was closed for the week, but now it is closed indefinitely.

Investigators said they plan to spend a lot of time at the facility to determine the cause of the fire...

Tuesday parents stopped by the business looking for Burton and an update on what will happen in the future with the daycare.

"We came and saw this this morning. And just found out," parent Erica Boyd told Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri.

She was shocked to find the business gutted by fire when she tried to drop off her son that morning.

Boyd told Viteri she wasn't sure where she was going to take her son the following day. Other family members stopped by looking for Burton, who didn't appear to return to the business.

Debra Hunter had two grandchildren attending the daycare. She said for many families losing that childcare leaves them with few options.

"(It's) very needed," Hunter said. "The majority, probably 95 percent of the kids here are on fixed incomes."

A sign on the front door said the daycare is closed for the week and any updates will be communicated by phone.

WSBTV