An early-morning fire Thursday destroyed a large part of a 97-year-old historic school house in Loudoun County.
The fire started around 6:30 a.m. in the back of the Old Waterford School House in Waterford. Firefighters quickly arrivedon the scene of the multialarm blaze, and had to aggressively fight the fire to keep it from spreading to the front portion of the school, according to fire department officials.
Fire companies from as far away as Maryland arrived to battle the blaze. Their work was complicated by the absence of fire hydrants around the school, as all buildings in the area operated from well water.
Firefighters were forced to run hoses to a nearby pond to get water to fight the fire.
The fire raged for about two and a half hours before it was contained. It destroyed a kitchen and an auditorium, said fire department spokeswoman Mary McGuire.
The school is used as a community center. The front portion of the structure, which was undamaged, was built in 1910. The portion destroyed by the fire was built in 1928, according to a Waterford historical Web site.
McGuire said the cause of the fire was unknown.
“We’re just now starting to get into the building to determine the cause,” she said. “We’ll have no information on the cause today.”
One unidentified fire fighter was injured in the fire and transported to the Loudoun Hospital Center where he was treated for minor injuries. He was released later in the day.
The building is owned and operated by the Waterford Foundation, a group that aims to preserve historic buildings in Waterford.
Examiner photographer Brig Cabe contributed to this report.
