POUGHKEEPSIE – The City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department responded to the city’s high school on Tuesday morning around 10 a.m. after an alert school staffer pulled the fire alarm.
The firefighting personnel responded to the alarm at Poughkeepsie High School and found a fire in insulation between the ceiling and the roof of the building. Firefighters were working from both inside the building and on the roof to keep the fire from extending throughout the roof.
The way in which the insulating barrier was glued to the underside of the roof proved challenging for the first responders who reported that the insulation and wood continued to smolder and the embers continued to spread, requiring them to cut large holes in the roof and pull down a substantial section of the interior ceiling to extinguish the fire.
Fire Chief Joe Franco told Mid-Hudson News that the fire was possibly caused when embers from a welding torch ignited the insulation. The construction worker was welding a new bracket inside of the building for the HVAC system.
Several different construction projects have been taking place at the high school since June and are ongoing. It was unclear if the fire damage would delay the start of the school year which begins for staff on September 6 and students on September 8.
