MONSEY – A lunchroom and auditorium in a large Orthodox Jewish day school were destroyed in an early morning blaze today, but six Torah scrolls kept in the building’s synagogue were carried out of the burning structure unharmed.

“They were hot to the touch,” said Nathan Rothschild, a Monsey firefighter and treasurer of the Adolph Schreiber Hebrew Academy of Rockland, who helped carry the Torahs. “Another couple of minutes and they would have been gone.”

Rothschild, his son, Gary, also a member of the Monsey department, were among more than 100 firefighters from Tallman, Suffern and Monsey who battled the blaze in the rear of the Highview Road building.

It was reported to police by a passer-by at 3:11 a.m.

When Ramapo police got there, they saw heavy smoke coming from the building.

“At this time it appears the fire may have started in a storage area on the west side of the complex,” according to a statement from Ramapo police Sgt. Patrick K. Reynar.

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Police are investigating along with officers from the Rockland Sheriff’s department arson unit.

It took firefighters more than an hour and a half to bring the blaze under control.

Part of the roof buckled and an auditorium wall appeared to collapse. The synagogue area was damaged.

One side of the building was exposed to the open, and tables, chairs and bookshelves were visible from the outside.

The fire did not extend to the main part of the 50-year-old brick-exterior building where classrooms and offices are located.

Heat and electricity to the school were cut, forcing cancellation of classes for the day. Students were informed by the school’s automated calling system, said Rothschild.

The co-ed modern Orthodox school, which is often referred to by acronym ASHAR, serves more than 400 students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

Social functions are often held in the auditorium.

The school had an alarm system, but it was not clear if it went off. The building was not required to have sprinklers.

No one was in the building when the fire started and no one was injured.

Ramapo Valley Ambulance Corps and Rockland Paramedics also responded

Adolph Schreiber, one of of the founders of the Adolph H. Schreiber Hebrew Academy of Rockland, was a longtime resident of Monsey and active member of the community.

(Report courtesy of Jane Lerner and Nicole Neroulias/The Journal News. Photo courtesy of Kathy Gardner/The Journal News.)