One person was found dead after a fire ripped through a vacant former bed-and-breakfast in Ridgefield, N.J. on Wednesday.
The old Toddle Inn was set for demolition in two weeks, but burned down early Wednesday morning, News12 New Jersey reported.
Firefighting crews responded to 850 Broad Avenue just after 2:20 a.m. and put out the fire within an hour, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
“There was no ability for us to get inside,” Ridgefield Battalion Chief Scott Russo told the Bergen Record.
After the fire was doused, only rubble remained on the property. As investigators searched through the remnants of the building, they discovered a body.
Authorities said it was unclear if the person died from the fire or was already dead before the building began to burn. They were not immediately identified.
The building had sat vacant for months with no gas or electricity, and the windows and doors had been boarded up, officials told the Bergen Record. No first responders were wounded in the blaze.
“Everybody worked together as a team and it was extinguished quickly, under control very fast,” Deputy Chief Gary Bonacci told the outlet.
Arson investigators with the Ridgefield Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office are examining the blaze and its causes.
The Toddle Inn had been standing for a century and was owned by former Ridgefield Councilman Angus Todd and his ancestors for seven decades, according to the Bergen Record. Todd died in 2020, and the site remains scheduled for redevelopment.
