Firefighters spent hours battling a massive three-alarm fire that broke out at a former school building in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Friday evening. 

In a social media post, the City of Atlantic City said that a structure fire was burning at the old New Jersey Avenue School building, which has been closed for over a decade. The school, which is located at New Jersey and Arctic avenues, closed its doors in 2012 when the Pennsylvania Avenue School opened. The empty building was heavily damaged later that year during Hurricane Sandy, rendering it unusable, according to Atlantic City Public Schools.

Atlantic City Fire Chief Scott Evans said the building is under demolition, and that crews were in the process of removing asbestos and clearing materials from the inside. 

Desks and other debris were pushed to the center, where preliminary reports indicate the fire started. The stockpiled debris continued to fuel the fire that burned for several more hours.

The call reporting the fire came in just after 6 p.m. No one was inside the building when the fire broke out.

On Friday night, Evans said officials planned to bring in emergency contractors to begin demolishing part of the building so they could fully extinguish the fire.

"This is one of the most difficult fires you could fight – a building that's under demolition," Evans said. "This building is completely wide open, so there's no safety systems, so to speak." 

Firefighters were overcome by heat while battling the fire as parts of the building's interior began collapsing, officials said.

Evans said it's too early to determine the cause of the fire, and there are no reported injuries.

According to the district, the former school is set to be made into a new administration building. The building was constructed in 1925 and is just under 1.5 miles from the Atlantic City Convention Center.

Residents could experience discolored water due to fire

If you live in Atlantic City and experience discolored water Friday evening, don't be alarmed. 

The city shared an announcement from the Atlantic City Municipal Utilities Authority that it's normal to see discolored water during active firefighting. 

If residents notice any discoloration, they are urged to run their water until the color clears. 

If the water has not cleared up, residents are asked to contact the AC Municipal Utilities Authority.