Police Investigate NHS

Rest Room Fire

By Andrew Gorosko

Police are investigating an intentionally set fire that occurred early Wednesday afternoon at Newtown High School when approximately 1,800 people were inside the building.

The small fire, which was set by someone inside a boys’ rest room, did little damage, but caused a smoke condition in the area, resulting in about a dozen Sandy Hook firefighters responding to the 1:10 pm call to exhaust accumulated smoke from the rest room. There were no injuries.

Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead said that someone set fire to a large plastic toilet paper dispenser inside a rest room stall. The fire caused the paper to burn and the plastic dispenser to start to melt. Damage is estimated at $150. The short-lived fire occurred in the second-story boys’ rest room that is nearest the main entrance to the high school.

The fire did not trigger a heat detector inside the rest room, so the building was not evacuated, Chief Halstead said.

The small fire had been extinguished before firefighters arrived on the scene, he said.

Although no one was injured, when a fire is set within a heavily occupied building, it requires investigation, said Chief Halstead, who is also the town fire marshal.

The incident, which occurred Wednesday, could constitute criminal mischief, as well as arson.

Police were questioning “people of interest” in their investigation, he said.

Police Sergeant Richard Robinson on Thursday said the case is under investigation, but declined to provide details.

School Resource Officer Domenic Costello is investigating the incident. If an arrest were to be made in the case, it would require that police obtain a warrant, a process that can take six to eight weeks.