Historic Long Island elementary school suffers "extensive damage" in fire
A fire engulfed an elementary school on Long Island causing extensive damage, officials said Tuesday.
An automatic fire alarm for smoke detectors was set off at 4:40 a.m. at West Side Elementary School in Laurel Hollow, fire officials said. The Oyster Bay Fire Company and Atlantic Steamer Fire Company responded and found the building on fire.
Video from Chopper 2 showed flames shooting out of the roof. Large, billowing clouds of smoke were also seen overhead as responders worked to extinguish the flames.
The fire was contained to the library area the community room below it.
"Unfortunately, with books and paper, there's heavy fire load, so once it gets in there, it's tough to extinguish. You gotta get into every nook and cranny there to really cool it off," said Atlantic Steamer Fire Chief Franceso Barbera.
"There's no sprinkler system in the school. It's grandfathered - wasn't required at the time of the construction. There was an automatic fire alarm here, thankfully. That's what alerted the firefighters," Chief Nassau County Fire Marshal Mike Uttaro said.
It took about 150 volunteer firefighters to get the fire under control within two hours. Nobody was at the school during the incident, and officials said there were no injuries.
School officials said the damaged wing of the building is more than 230 years old and has a storied history. George Washington is said to have stopped there in 1790 when they were building the community's first school house and, according to legend, he helped raise one of the first rafters.
Historical artifacts from the time are housed at the school. The superintendent said much of the building is not damaged, but sadly the part that was included historic books.
Nassau County fire investigators said the fire isn't considered suspicious, and it appears to have been caused accidentally and involved the building's electrical system in the basement.
"When I got here, I saw part of the library was on fire, and it's horrible. The kids use the building. But we will work through this and we'll be fine, eventually," Cold Spring Harbor school superintendent Joseph Monestero said. "There's a lot of history here in West Side School, and the community has been reaching out. Cold Spring Harbor strong - everyone will come together to make sure we get through this together."
It is unknown if the school will be able to reopen later this week. School officials say they will communicate with families on what the plans will be for the future. The district is working on its plans going forward for the 220 students who attend West Side Elementary.
Students who came to see the damage were sad about their losses.
"A lot of fun books and projects we have been working on for a while," one student said.
"It's devastating to look at it, because this is serious. This is not a snow day. It's a fire that burned down part of the school," fourth grader Leif Koka said.
