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Police: Video led to Morse fire arrest
Investigators also praise school staff for role in charging student with arson
By Seth Koenig, Times Record Staff
BATH — The Bath Police Department released details Thursday of an arrest that resulted from the investigation of a fire Wednesday at Morse High School.
The fire in the first floor boys’ bathroom was reported just after noon Wednesday and, according to a police department news release, a 14-year-old student was arrested for arson around 9 p.m. that day.
In the Thursday release, Bath Police Chief Michael Field wrote that State Fire Marshal’s Office and Bath Fire Department investigators “quickly determined the fire was deliberately set.”
“Investigators examined the scene (and) security video, and interviewed numerous witnesses throughout the evening,” Field wrote, in part.
Bath Police Lt. Stan Cielinski said Thursday the departments performed “good old-fashioned police work” and credited the school’s security cameras as being crucial to the case.
“In the last two years, the schools have added cameras, and those cameras have digital recorders,” Cielinski said. “The new technology is higher quality and is easier to use. The school staff was a big help in knowing their students, and the investigators did their interviews.”
He said the first floor bathroom, where the fire was contained, sustained “several thousand dollars” of damage.
Bath Fire Chief Stephen Hinds said Wednesday that the fire itself was small, but firefighters were forced to break through many of the surrounding walls to ensure flames hadn’t spread to other places.
“In the middle of the school day, you have all your students in the school,” Cielinski said. “It could have been much worse.”
skoenig@timesrecord.com
The fire in the first floor boys’ bathroom was reported just after noon Wednesday and, according to a police department news release, a 14-year-old student was arrested for arson around 9 p.m. that day.
In the Thursday release, Bath Police Chief Michael Field wrote that State Fire Marshal’s Office and Bath Fire Department investigators “quickly determined the fire was deliberately set.”
“Investigators examined the scene (and) security video, and interviewed numerous witnesses throughout the evening,” Field wrote, in part.
Bath Police Lt. Stan Cielinski said Thursday the departments performed “good old-fashioned police work” and credited the school’s security cameras as being crucial to the case.
“In the last two years, the schools have added cameras, and those cameras have digital recorders,” Cielinski said. “The new technology is higher quality and is easier to use. The school staff was a big help in knowing their students, and the investigators did their interviews.”
He said the first floor bathroom, where the fire was contained, sustained “several thousand dollars” of damage.
Bath Fire Chief Stephen Hinds said Wednesday that the fire itself was small, but firefighters were forced to break through many of the surrounding walls to ensure flames hadn’t spread to other places.
“In the middle of the school day, you have all your students in the school,” Cielinski said. “It could have been much worse.”
skoenig@timesrecord.com
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