A fire destroyed a New Jersey synagogue early Friday morning as the rabbi, his wife and four of their children narrowly escaped without injuries.

The fire at Congregation Beth El, in a residential neighborhood in Rutherford, started around 2:50 a.m., Mayor Frank Nunziato said. There is no indication that the fire was caused by arson, he said.

By the time the first firefighters arrived, the synagogue was already consumed by flames, and a part of the structure was beginning to collapse. As it grew to a four-alarm fire, the Rutherford Fire Department eventually received help from 14 departments in the area.

The congregation’s rabbi, Yitzchok Lerman, and members of his family were sleeping in an apartment inside the synagogue when the fire started. The rabbi, his wife and four of their children managed to get dressed and narrowly escape the building before it began to collapse, Mr. Lerman said.

“We saw orange flames outside our window so we quickly grabbed our children and ran out,” he said. “I turned around to save our Torah scrolls, but the flames had already engulfed the entire building. It was that quick.”

The synagogue will not hold its regular Friday evening service, Mr. Lerman said. A service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in tents on the property, he said.

Firefighters did not know on Friday morning what had caused the fire, Mr. Nunziato said, but there were no indications that it was arson. The synagogue, which was founded in 1919, occupied a large building that was once a residential home, and contained old wood and varnish that might explain the speed with which the fire engulfed the structure, the mayor said. Fire officials were beginning to investigate the cause on Friday.

The synagogue was attacked in January 2012 by a 19-year-old man who rode by on his bicycle and threw a Molotov cocktail at the building. The man also was charged with firebombing a synagogue in Paramus.

This is a developing story and will be updated.