On Feb. 1, at approximately 1:53 am, a fire was discovered in the rear lot of the Iron Pizza Kitchen, located at 654 North Ave.

Police were first alerted by Iona College Campus Safety and Security, who called 911 to notify the New Rochelle Fire Department of the incident.

An engine returning to station 3 on North Avenue received the call and immediately appeared on the scene.

Several other engines followed, and the fire was extinguished within minutes.

Further inspection of the building revealed that there had been no damage to the establishment.

“I had just gotten back to campus around 2:00am, and as I got out of the cab I noticed what appeared to be sparks and flames coming from what looked like a chimney from the Iron Kitchen vent,” said freshman Christopher Traynor.

“As I crossed the street I could hear crackling and clearly made out flames,” he said.

“Fortunately, there was an Iona Campus security guard talking to a New Rochelle police officer just outside of the common. I walked over and alerted them to what I saw. Then I walked around the building and took a photo of the fire. At that time the Fire Department arrived on scene and promptly put out the fire.”

Formerly operating as Cannone’s Pizza and Campus Wings, the site has recently been undergoing renovations to open as an extension of Iron Tomato of White Plains.

The property itself was recently acquired by Iona as part of the college’s continuing efforts to expand their real estate in areas surrounding the school.

“Needless to say we were relieved to find out that nobody was injured in this incident and there was no damage to the building,” said Charles Carlson, Vice Provost for Student Life.

“The fire was restricted to construction debris and a wooden fence that was bordering the storage area in the rear yard.”

While the cause of the fire remains unknown, officials believe it was an accident, possibly resulting from a discarded cigarette, and do not suspect anyone of intentionally setting the property aflame.

Still, instances such as this give rise to concern amongst students residing in campus housing nearby.

Junior Kyle Byrne said that the smell of smoke was so prevalent from his dorm room in South Hall, he was convinced that the college would require students to evacuate.

“I was sleeping when my roommate woke me up to tell me there was a fire,” he said.

“I was right in view of it from my bedroom window and was surprised by how much light and smoke it was generating. I was glad to see it put out before it became an issue we had to worry about.”