About 400 campers were evacuated from Camp Deeny Riback in Flanders on Monday after a fire broke out at the nearby Morris County Trash Transfer station one and a quarter miles away.

Administrators of the day camp, run by JCC MetroWest, said the evacuation ran smoothly and served as a successful test of post-Sept. 11 emergency plans.

Police contacted the camp with the news at about 11 a.m., according to camp director Diana Ackerman. They suggested that everyone either stay indoors with the windows closed or evacuate the facility.

Ackerman put into effect emergency plans and sounded a siren; campers gathered on the ball field. They then walked to Mount Olive High School, located next to the camp. There they had lunch in the cafeteria and then boarded buses that took them to the Lautenberg Family Jewish Community Center in Whippany. They arrived at about 2 p.m. and spent the balance of the day at the JCC.

Cheryl Sanders, director of the lower pool at Deeny Riback, was in the midst of instructional swim when she got the word. "We cleared everybody out of the pool and headed to Mt. Olive High School," she said.

"We thought it was a drill," said Nancy Peled, sports specialist, who was playing baseball with a group of campers when she was told to gather them in lines. "We hadn't had an evacuation drill yet and knew it was coming."

Ackerman ultimately announced what had happened and what the plans were. By the time the buses drove up to the JCC entrance, there was little trace of concern among the campers. David Lerner, a 14-year-old camper from Livingston, was among the first to arrive in Whippany. Asked if he was worried or scared, he said no. "We played in the cafeteria for like an hour and a half, and we slept through the bus ride here," he said.

Ackerman was pleased with the success of the day's operation. "This is the truest example of why people should choose this camp," she said. Although the camp has long had fire and other emergency plans, this year she added a plan for a full facility evacuation, with post-9/11 security concerns in mind. "It was 15 minutes from the moment we knew about the fire until the last child was in the cafeteria. It was awesome, thank God. And we had a ball at lunch," she said.

The fire began in a trash pile due to be processed and shipped out and was still burning late in the day on Monday, according to Joe Kluska, information officer for the Mount Olive police. By Tuesday morning, he said, prosecutors were pointing at the possibility that pool chemicals discarded in a dumpster had caused the fire.

Johanna Ginsberg can be reached at .