Red Hook High School will be closed Monday as the building is extensively cleaned following Friday’s fire.
The district has contracted with a company to clean most surfaces and items within the school, which were impacted by smoke that circulated throughout most of the building. Updates regarding when the building may be reopened and the status of Monday's planned Senior Awards ceremony will be provided in the coming days.
Families and faculty have been sent instructions for how essential items can be retrieved during a designated window from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday.
The fire remains under investigation. It started in the first-floor boys bathroom off the school’s main hallway across from the library.
The fire alarm went off in the building at 10:22 a.m., triggering an evacuation of all personnel and students. An on-site Red Hook Police Department School Resource Officer responded immediately. First responder agencies arrived on the scene by 10:30, encountering smoke just beyond the main lobby. The fire was ruled under control by 10:45 a.m., though crews remained at the school ventilating smoke and evaluating the building until roughly 1 p.m.
The structural damage caused by the fire was contained to the bathroom’s two stalls and ceiling above the stalls. However, smoke circulated throughout the hallway and through the ventilation system to the second floor, necessitating the remediation of surfaces and items.
We thank the Red Hook, Tivoli, Germantown and Rhinebeck fire departments, as well as the Red Hook Police Department, for responding to the school and for their assistance.
After leaving the building, students went to Linden Avenue Middle School, from which they were dismissed at 11:15 a.m. Staff was allowed to return to the building to collect belongings shortly after 1 p.m., but the building remains closed.
We thank families and staff at both the high and middle schools for their patience and flexibility as we address this situation. We will continue to communicate updates and details as they become available.