High School Will Remain Closed, As Student Arrested On Arson Charges

RED HOOK, NY — Students at a Hudson Valley high school won't be returning to class just yet, days after a classmate was arrested on arson charges.

Red Hook High School officials said the school will switch to virtual learning Tuesday and Wednesday as the building continues to be remediated for smoke damage following Friday's fire. Classes are canceled Monday, and the building remains closed as a third-party company continues a thorough cleaning.

In a letter to families, school officials said that although much has already been done, more cleaning, inspection and testing is needed before the building can be reopened.

Meanwhile, the Red Hook Police Department said a juvenile has been charged in connection with the fire at Red Hook High School.

At 10:15 a.m., on Friday, a Red Hook police school resource officer was notified by a student about a fire in the boys bathroom on the first floor. The officer saw smoke coming from the bathroom and pulled the fire alarm to begin evacuating the building.

Two more Red Hook police officers responded to the school and tried to access the bathroom to locate and extinguish the source of the fire, but heavy black smoke prevented them from entering the bathroom.

Red Hook fire department members arrived a few minutes later and extinguished the fire by 10:45 a.m.

The Tivoli, Milan, Rhinebeck, and Germantown fire departments also responded to the school to assist.

The Dutchess County fire investigation team began an investigation into the cause of the fire and deemed it was not accidental.

The Red Hook Police Department launched a criminal investigation. On Saturday, at 2:45 p.m., the investigation resulted in the arrest of a 16 year-old boy from Red Hook. The juvenile was charged with felony third-degree arson, and felony first-degree reckless endangerment.

He was arraigned in the town of Red Hook court and released to a parent's custody with a future court date. Red Hook police were assisted in the investigation by NYSP Troop K Major Crimes.

"We thank the department for its support of our district, its swift response to this incident and the steps it has taken that led to the arrest Saturday afternoon," the school district said. "This is an unfortunate situation and we will be enforcing our Code of Conduct in regard to student behavior."