Charlotte fire investigators on Wednesday arrested 16-year-old Jason Scott Chappell and charged him with starting a fire at a construction site earlier this week.
Police said the fire damaged or destroyed several pieces of heavy equipment and a refueling tank. Total damage was estimated at $250,000.
The equipment, in the 1000 block of Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road, included a 2,000-gallon fuel tanker, two Caterpillar bulldozers and a Caterpillar backhoe. The tanker and one of the bulldozers were destroyed, police said.
The fire also caused a fuel spill that required soil and water cleanup.
The construction site is the location of River Oaks Academy, a new Charlotte-Mecklenburg elementary school.
Chappell was in the Mecklenburg County jail under a $150,000 bond.
