Highland Park House Fire Caused by Arson, Prosecutor Says

Highland Park, NJ - That Highland Park house fire that Patch reported on Tuesday, where two people had to jump from the roof of a burning home to escape?

It was set deliberately by arson, the Middlesex County prosecutor's office charged Thursday. Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey and Chief Stephen Rizco of the Highland Park Police Department said a 20-year-old Highland Park man was arrested Thursday and charged with setting fire to a three-floor residential rooming house.

Michael Henderson, who rented a room in the house at 45 South Adelaide Avenue in Highland Park, was charged with a second-degree count of aggravated arson. Bail was set at $250,000. During the investigation, it was determined that Henderson set the fire on Tuesday, July 26, police said. Two people were trapped by the flames and had to jump from the burning roof of the home. They were helped by a Highland Park police officer. Those two people, the officer and a four person all required medical attention at Robert Wood Johnson hospital in New Brunswick.

He was arrested and charged during an investigation by Detective Sean McGraw of the Highland Park Police Department and Detective Nicholas Chiorello of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

They were assisted by the Middlesex County Fire Marshal’s Office and the Canine Unit of the New Jersey Division of Fire Safety.

The investigation is active and is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective McGraw of the Highland Park Police Department at (732) 572-3800, or Detective Chiorello of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3848.