4-Alarm Blaze Guts Centenary College President's House

A late afternoon fire gutted one of Centenary College’s buildings in Hackettstown Monday afternoon, leaving the structure uninhabitable.

Hackettstown firefighters responded to the college’s President’s House at 4:40 p.m. Monday and found smoke pouring out from the rear of the building, Sgt. Darren Tynan said.

Due to the frigid temperatures, firefighters had to battle frozen apparatus as well as the flames.

No on was home at the time and the college’s president doesn’t actually live in the home, but the structure is used for multiple purposes throughout the school year, Tynan said.

One firefighter was taken to Hackettstown Regional Medical Center for precautionary measures, Tynan said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation but it is not believed there is any foul play, Tynan said. The building was deemed uninhabitable after the blaze was knocked down.

Most fire companies were gone from the scene by 1 a.m., while other firefighters stayed through the night and remained on scene Thursday morning.

Assisting at the scene was the Hackettstown Fire Police, Hackettstown Rescue Squad, Hackettstown Ladies Auxiliary, Hackettstown Office Of Emergency Management, Independence Township Fire Department, Tri-County Fire Company, Mansfield Township Fire Department, Mansfield Township Rescue Squad, Allamuchy Township Fire Department, Budd Lake Fire Department, Netcong Borough Fire Department, Washington Borough Fire Department, Schooley’s Mountain Fire Department, Roxbury Township Fire Department, Franklin Township Fire Department, Mountain Lakes Fire Department, Hackettstown Department Of Public Works, Warren County Communications Command Unit, Morris County NJ EMS Task Force, JCP&L and Elizabethtown Gas Company.