2 Accused Of Arson In Fairfield Had Been Partying At SantaCon: Report

FAIRFIELD, CT — The two men accused of arson in Fairfield are both students at Sacred Heart University, and both had reportedly been partying at SantaCon earlier on the day of the fire.

Samuel Archer, 19, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Henry Hirsch, a 20-year-old Ridgefield resident, have both been charged with third-degree arson and second-degree reckless endangerment.

According to Fairfield police, the two are responsible for igniting a fire on Dec. 7 in a stairwell at the Heritage Square Plaza, a shopping plaza at 1700 Post Road in downtown Fairfield. No injuries were reported in the blaze, but damage to the commercial building from the fire is estimated at about $400,000.

The Connecticut Post reports that Hirsch appeared briefly in Bridgeport Superior Court on Monday, and his case was continued to April 7. Archer is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 20.

Fairfield police said the two had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana at the controversial annual event, which is held in December at the nearby beach area. They are accused of lighting up a marijuana cigarette in the shopping center stairwell when they lit a pile of leaves on fire.

The fire was "primarily contained to the exterior of the building and the stairwell," and did not damage any of the businesses in the building, according to Fairfield Police Sgt. Jenna Wellington.

In a statement to Patch, Deb Noack, Executive Director of Communications at Sacred Heart University, said that the school is conducting an internal review of the matter.

"The safety of our students and community is always our utmost priority," Noack told Patch. "The students who were arrested will go through our student conduct process, which is an internal review to determine if they violated our code of conduct. Based on their conduct hearing, sanctions will be assigned to each student."