A fire broke out in the historic Ichabod L. Scranton house, a two-story building at 20 Wall Street, owned and bordered by the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library. According to Library officials, the house is Listed in Connecticut’s historic registry and is more than 100 years old. It also once served as Madison’s original post office.

According to Madison Hose Company 1, Fire Chief Robert Kyttle, there were no reported injuries, but the structure sustained damage just as it was completing a years-long renovation effort. According to Kyttle, the blaze appears to have been concentrated on the second floor of the building and did not spread to the library itself or any abutting property or structures.

More than 40 firefighters from Madison, North Madison, Clinton, Killingworth, and Guilford responded to the emergency, according to Kyttle. Despite restricted access to the parking lot and the potential for a dangerous expansion of the blaze, Kyttle said he and his crew were able to deal with the situation rapidly.

“The library evacuated when they first saw the flames coming from the other building, and those people got out of the way quickly for us, so we did not have issues getting into the driveway,” said Kyttle. “The fire that we first saw was concentrated on the second floor toward the front of the right side of the building. We were very grateful for the response from all of the towns.”

Scranton Director Sunnie Scarpa said a patron exiting the library around 6 p.m. spotted flames emanating from the second floor of the house and alerted staff.

“The library owns the two buildings that are on the other side of our Wall Street driveway. The fire was in the smaller building set back from the street that faces the library entrance,” Scarpa said. “We are all very grateful that a patron alerted us that they had seen flames. We evacuated the main library building, and my staff acted very quickly to get everyone out.”

Scarpa said she was thankful that the fire did not spread to other buildings, especially the library itself, but also felt a measure of dismay that the damage would likely interrupt plans for the building, which was set to open for expanded library activities in the coming months.

“The damage appears to be centered on the second floor, but we can’t say much about how much damage there is right now,” Scarpa said. “As part of our expansion process, that building was being brought up to ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] accepted code, and we were just now finishing a few aesthetic things so that we could begin to have library programming on the first floor this spring. So, we were really looking forward to that. Obviously, that is going to be delayed, and we don’t know for how long.”

Scarpa said that no equipment or critical library assets were in the structure at the time of the fire.

“The great thing is, is that the building was completely empty. There were only some folding tables and chairs, and that was it, so that is something to be thankful for,” said Scarpa. “The number one thing is that no one was hurt. That is ultimately what matters.”

Scarpa praised her staff and first responders for mitigating what might otherwise have been a much more significant incident.

“After everything was over and it was all done, the fire chief said to me, ‘At least it wasn’t the building with the books’,” said Scarpa. “I think that even though this is a tough situation, we have a lot to be grateful for. The firefighters got here quickly. They did an amazing job; it wasn’t the building with the books, no one got hurt, and it didn’t affect any other buildings, so there is a lot to be grateful for here. We just really want to thank the firefighters, they were really incredible and reacted quickly.”

Scarpa added, “We are still processing it. You don’t know how you’re going to react in an emergency, but I am really proud of the staff. They got everyone out safely. We met at our emergency evacuation meeting spot so that we knew everyone was okay. So, it certainly was a difficult experience, but everyone is okay.”

Madison Fire officials announced late last week that the cause of the blaze appears to be oiled rags that were piled on the second floor. Heat generated from the substances ignited the rags, according to fire officials.