Vacant Mental Hospital Brush/Building Fire Probed In Newington

NEWINGTON, CT — State police say a half acre of land and a building at the old Cedarcrest hospital site in town was caused by an arsonist.

According to Connecticut State Police Monday morning, at about 7:52 p.m. Sunday, a hiker reported a brush fire on the Cedar Crest property in Newington, which is deep in the woods off Russell Road, just off the Berlin Turnpike.

Police said the Newington and Wethersfield fire departments responded and, upon arrival, observed approximately half an acre of woods on fire and that a vacant building on the property had been destroyed by fire.

The fire was extinguished and no injuries were reported, police said.

Troopers from Troop H in Hartford responded to the scene to investigate.

The Connecticut State Police Fire & Explosion Investigation Unit responded and processed the scene and the fire has been determined to have been intentionally set.

Cedarcrest opened in 1910 as a tuberculosis hospital, evolving into a mental hospital in later decades.

The site closed in 2010 and has been vacant since.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Connecticut Arson Tip Award Hotline at 1-800-84ARSON (800-842-7766).

For more information on the Cedarcrest Hospital site, click on this link.