Santa Fe: Blaze tears through roof of historic St. Catherine’s Indian School; Videos

A large fire tore through the historic St. Catherine’s Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Thursday, with videos showing flames engulfing the building.

Updated on: Jul 3, 2026, 07:31:20 IST

By Shamik Banerjee

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A large fire erupted at the St. Catherine’s Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday afternoon. Santa Fe's interim fire chief Scott Ouderkirk confirmed to the Santa Fe New Mexican that the fire started around 12:30pm MDT.

A video of the incident shared by a resident showed blaze tearing through the historic school building. The smoke from the fire is visible across the city of Santa Fe. Local news outlet KOB 4 reports that there are no injuries and the building had been vacant for several years and was empty when the fire started this afternoon.

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Here's a video of the blaze that tore through the main school building structure constructed 1886.

The building has been a crucial landmark for the city of Santa Fe and was part of the community's local heritage. After Thursday's fire, the main school building is expected to fully burn down as a result of the fire, KOB 4 reported citing fire officials.

St. Catherine’s Indian School (originally St. Catherine’s Industrial Indian School for Boys) was one of many "contested system of Indian boarding schools" in the 18th and early 19th centuries in the US "run by missionaries of various Christian religious orders," according to the website of Historic Santa Fe Foundation.

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Built in 1886 with donations from Katherine Drexel, "a wealthy Pennsylvania heiress," to the Catholic Indian Bureau - an organization established in 1874 by the Catholic Church to "educate" and "assimilate" Native Americans.

The campus closed down in 1998, with the property now owned by the City of Santa Fe, which runs a museum there.

The destruction of the building in the fire left many in Santa Fe nostalgic.

"Very sad to see. My mother attended St. Kath's for part of her high school. My sister taught there for years and made many lifelong friends. And my daughter attended high school there and graduated as valedictorian. St. Catherine's was so much a part of my family's life," a Santa Fe New Mexican reader named B. Charlie recalled in a comment.

"The building itself was awesome the design wish I could have filmed the inside. Damm," said Ruchard Rodriguez, another SFNM reader.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shamik Banerjee
Shamik is a journalist covering the United States for Hindustan Times. He has more than four years of experience reporting on US politics, sports, and major breaking stories across fast-moving cycles. He previously worked at Times Now and Sportskeeda, building strong newsroom instincts and digital storytelling skills. At HT.com, he focuses on day-to-day coverage of US political developments while also handling high-impact stories that demand speed, accuracy, clarity, and context under pressure. Shamik has extensive experience covering NFL game days over the past two years, coordinating live updates, analysis, and explainers. He is particularly drawn to large news moments such as US elections and the Super Bowl, where he thrives at the news desk working alongside the team. He holds degrees in Media Studies from Jamia Millia Islamia and English Literature from Jadavpur University. Before entering journalism, he briefly worked in digital marketing and political consultancy roles. Currently a Senior Content Producer at HT Digital, he is driven by curiosity, discipline, and a constant desire to explore new and obscure topics. Outside work, he enjoys reading, films, sports, and learning continuously.Read More

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