Fire Damages Pleasant Valley Library Tuesday

PLEASANT VALLEY, NY — Firefighters battled an early morning blaze Tuesday at the Pleasant Valley Free Library in Pleasant Valley. The president of the library's board of trustees, David Kruger, received a call around 6:45 a.m. about the library's smoke alarm.

Kruger told the Poughkeepsie Journal that when he got to the 1870s building it was engulfed in smoke.

The state Department of Transportation said that Route 44 is closed in both directions Tuesday because of the fire and fire department activity.

The closure is between West Road and North Avenue.

The library posted a notice on its website that the library will be closed indefinitely.

"We are still uncertain what the full extent of the damage to the building is, and will keep our patrons and our town updated both here and on our Facebook page as we learn more. We are devastated by this, but promise that we will be back as soon as possible," the notice said.

Library officials thanked the numerous fire departments that responded quickly to put out the flames.

No staff or patrons were in the building at the time of the fire, officials said.

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