Donegal officials Thursday offered a "heartfelt thanks" to all the emergency crews that responded to the fire March 22 at the new high school under construction on Koser Road.

"When I spoke to Buddy (Hess, Chief of Fire Department Mount Joy), I told him, 'I don't know if I will ever find the right words to say thank you,' " Superintendent Susan Ursprung said.

FDMJ was assisted by fire units from Maytown, Elizabethtown, Marietta, Rheems, Columbia, Susquehanna, Mountville and Rohrerstown. Also, service was provided by Susquehanna Valley EMS in Mount Joy and Northwest EMS in Elizabethtown.

School board members signed a letter expressing their thanks, and copies of the letter will be sent to all the departments involved.

A state fire marshal estimated damages are as much as $2 million at the $38 million school.

Ursprung said Thursday the district's insurance carrier was still calculating the damages and the cleanup could take a month.

The fire broke out in a storage room off the gym, and more than 90 percent of the building sustained smoke damage. The storage room took the brunt of the fire and the gym took the brunt of the smoke damage.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Ursprung said.

Ursprung said the district was scheduled to take possession of the new school at the end of April and begin moving into the school in June, with classes beginning in August.

Ursprung said she did not have a date for when the new school would be ready.

The superintendent said she and business manager Amy Swartz observed firefighters battling the blaze from a nearby parking lot.

Ursprung said Swartz was on the phone with the district's insurance carrier during the fire and that insurance agents were on scene the next morning.

"The restoration company was on site as of two days after the fire on a Saturday," Ursprung said.

She said the general contractor and restoration company divided the high school into seven sections. Each section was scheduled for inspection, cleanup and repair involving the restoration company and the five primary contractors.

Since the fire, she said crews have been working two shifts and up to 20 hours per day.

Ursprung said one section of classrooms on the first and second floor was slated for completion Thursday night.

"The final cleaning date for all sections is April 20," the superintendent said.

In an effort to speed up the process, the board unanimously authorized the business office to take any necessary action called for before the next board meeting.

The board subsequently approved several retroactive contacts associated with the fire cleanup, including a $20,000 change order to remove and dispose of the gym floor.

Swartz said the insurance company would reimburse the district for that change order.

The superintendent encouraged the public to follow progress of the high school project on her blog.