By ERIN ROLL
roll@montclairlocal.news
A firefighter was injured as crews responded to a fire at a vacant bank building on Valley Road near the intersection with Bellevue Avenue.
The fire was reported at the building at 8 p.m. Tuesday night, Oct. 9, Deputy Fire Chief Robert Duncan said. Firefighters responded and saw that the building was full of smoke.
The fire had started at a wall-mounted safe inside the bank.
The bank safe was constructed with wooden doors clad in steel, with a wooden frame, Duncan said. It was the frame that had caught fire. Firefighters were forced to use power saws to open up the safe and extinguish the fire.
One firefighter sustained a minor injury, but Duncan would not comment on the nature of the injury, citing patient privacy guidelines.
The bank safe sustained major damage, while the rest of the building sustained smoke damage. Some of the adjacent businesses to the bank sustained minor smoke damage, Duncan said.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation as of Wednesday.
The township issued a construction permit for the building in September, for the demolition of some of the interior walls.