New Square – A top village official Wednesday disputed the Hillcrest fire chief’s contention that 20 students were trapped inside a Yeshiva with padlocked or dead-bolted exits during a fire.

The Hillcrest fire chief, however, stood behind his comments that his firefighters found students pounding on the door trying to escape the burning two-story building, which includes dormitories, and that the locked doors endangered not only the students but also the firefighters responding to what’s being called arson.

While no classes are taking place at Yeshiva Avir Yakov until the new semester starts Monday, building inspector Manny Carmona will inspect the building today and will ensure that there are no safety violations before the school reopens, Deputy Mayor Israel Spitzer said Wednesday.

Spitzer said he’s taking the issue of any violations “very seriously,” but “to my knowledge, there were no students in the building” at the time of the fire April 1.

Spitzer, who was not at the scene of the fire, said Hillcrest Fire Chief Kim Weppler gave out “misleading information.”

“This is so wrong to come up with a statement that 20 people were trapped,” Spitzer said. “I have been unable to confirm evidence or find witnesses who saw anyone trapped inside the building.”

Spitzer said the doors were padlocked to keep students out because the Yeshiva was closed for Pesach.

(Read More at LoHud.com / YWN-782)