Small fire at high school quickly extinguished
"Our security was awesome — they were right on top of it"
When three students set fire to some paper on the third floor at Asbury Park High School today, the building’s security was “right on top of it,” according to school communications officer Chrissy Coloma.
“Our security was awesome,” she said. “They were right on top of it immediately and they were able to know who the students were immediately.”
The three 10th-graders were apprehended and taken away from the school for investigation, according to Coloma and fire chief Kevin Keddy.
Keddy called the event “pretty routine.”
“Obviously it’s being taken very seriously when it’s in a school, especially when school is in session,” Keddy said.
Not only was school in session for a half-day today, but middle-school students were also celebrating their graduation from eighth grade with a moving up ceremony in the auditorium.
The fire department also provides emergency medical services to the city. An ambulance full of fire and EMS personnel had already been deployed to the high school when the fire started due to an unrelated medical incident.
The department sent more firefighters to the scene when they received the alarm at 10:32 a.m., Keddy said. They were on the scene within minutes and were able to leave the school at 10:46.
“It wasn’t much of a fire at all,” Keddy said. “We determined a few pieces of paper had been lit on fire in the hallway — enough to set off the fire alarm. It was extinguished prior to our arrival.”
The police took three students into custody, thanks in part to the camera surveillance throughout the school, Coloma said.
The only damage firefighters found to the building was a small scorch mark on the tile floor, Keddy said. No one was injured, he said.
