Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden would not elaborate on the suspect’s connection to the fires.
There were similar incidents at three Starbucks locations in Albuquerque on Friday morning.
Jennifer Mieth, a spokeswoman for the state Fire Marshal’s Office, said the cause of the fire has not been determined, but it appears to be intentionally set.
She said school fires are not uncommon. In 2015 there were 149 school fires. The majority of which were cooking related, but many were also set fires.
“Most of them were small,” said Mieth. “Although all fires start small.”
Hopkinton Public School Superintendent Cathy MacLeod said school administrators spent the day going from classroom to classroom explaining what occurred. She said the goal was to both make the students comfortable at the school, as well as to prevent the spread of rumors
The fire alarm closest to the fire was in test mode, which caused a delayed response from city firefighters. Mendoza said it’s common for fire alarms to be in test mode in buildings under construction.
When firefighters did arrive at 1299 Galleria at Tyler to investigate the extinguished fire, which caused about $5,000 in damage, they determined it was intentionally ignited. Mall security told firefighters they knew where the suspect, 28-year-old Brian Haugh, was at the time. Hough was arrested on suspicion of arson and taken to the Robert Presley Detention Center, where bail is set at $35,000.
When the firefighters arrived at the scene, they saw that a window in front of the store had been broken and noticed an accelerant had been thrown inside, said Montreal police spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils. The sprinkler system helped put out the fire quickly, so damage was minimal. No one was hurt and so far police have no suspects.