In Re Stonewall F.

Stonewall F. and Jimmy H., minors, appeal from orders making them wards of the juvenile court, predicated upon findings that in intentionally setting a fire to a pile of leaves near a school building, which spread to the structure, they committed arson—the wilful and malicious burning of a structure. (Pen. Code, § 451.) In the published portion of this case we conclude that, since the trial court found that the minors did not intend by setting fire to the leaves to cause the burning of the school, the conclusion that they committed arson is infirm. We will modify the judgment to delete that finding and to substitute the lesser included offense of Penal Code section 452, subdivision (c), the unlawful burning of a structure, and, as modified, affirm the judgment.

Facts

On June 5, 1984, at 4 a.m., a fire was reported at the Zamora School in Yolo County. Police and firefighters responded. The police found a door on the northeast corner of the school ajar. When Harry Bobb of the Woodland Fire Department arrived he found a large fire that appeared to be concen trated in the multipurpose room. Bobb and another firefighter rounded the southeast corner of the school with a…