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Firefighters responding to the Washington School on Ridge Road were met by intense heat and smoke that obscured all visibility shortly after 6 p.m. Sept. 16, 1st Assistant Fire Chief Paul Haggerty said.
They kept the two-alarm blaze contained to the classroom with no injuries reported, he said.
“An aggressive attack was to thank for avoiding what could have been a bad day here,” Haggerty said from the school.
Fire officials and the township Office of Emergency Management have already begun mapping out an “accelerated recovery” for the school.
The Lyndhurst Board of Education was expected to issue a release explaining arrangements before the school week begins.
Mutual aid at the scene was provided by firefighters from North Arlington, Rutherford and East Rutherford, Haggerty said. Township coverage was handled by Secaucus, Nutley and North Arlington firefighters, the assistant chief said.
The County Wide Emergency Response team also responded and assisted firefighters at the scene, he said.
The blaze wasn’t considered suspicious. However, because it’s a public school, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Arson Investigations Unit joined Lyndhurst detectives and the township fire official in probing the cause, Haggerty said.
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