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Woodbridge JCC closed after four-alarm fire

The Jewish Community Center in Woodbridge was closed Tuesday following a fire that prompted a mass evacuation and sent two firefighters to the hospital Monday afternoon. Firefighters, cleanup crews

News 12 Staff

Dec 7, 2016, 3:13 AM

Updated 2,965 days ago

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The Jewish Community Center in Woodbridge was closed Tuesday following a fire that prompted a mass evacuation and sent two firefighters to the hospital Monday afternoon.
Firefighters, cleanup crews and JCC staff were at the building Tuesday to survey the damage.
Members also showed up to pick up belongings like handbags and keys that they couldn't take with them when they were forced to immediately evacuate.
The fire broke out around 3:45 p.m.
Michael Korsko says he was in the men's spa area when he smelled something burning that appeared to come from the sauna.
"Flames started coming out of the wooden door there and I stopped," he says. "And as soon as I stopped, the door blew out and a wall of flames came out."
Some of the community center's staff then called 911 and pulled the fire alarm.
Fire officials say one of the two injured firefighters was treated and released from the hospital Monday night. The other was transferred to a hospital in Rhode Island where he's being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.
Fire officials say they're still investigating the exact cause of the fire, but say it does not appear to be suspicious.
News 12 is told the bottom floor is uninhabitable. That floor is where the locker rooms, fitness equipment and pool are.
Officials say the firewalls did their jobs to contain the flames. They also said the facility sustained considerable water and smoke damage, and the building itself won't be open for the foreseeable future.
JCC officials are working with community partners to resume services and activities at other facilities.