May 3, 1993 (~estimated)
Fire damages Princeton apartment house
Princeton fire officials Monday were still trying to determine the cause of a fire that caused severe damage Saturday night to an apartment house occupied by eight Princeton University students.
The house, at 53 North Tulane St., has been declared unsafe and residents have been ordered to stay away until repairs are made.
‘Three firefighters were treated at the Medical Center at Princeton for smoke inhalation and a dog belonging to one of the residents was killed during the fire.
Princeton Borough police received a number of calls from neighbors alerting them to the fire at 11:45 p.m. “When our patrols arrived, there were flames coming out of a first-floor window.” Capt. Peter Hanley said.
The Princeton Fire Department called in firefighters from Kingston to aid them with the general alarm blaze, Capt. Hanley said.
It took two hours to bring the fire under control, police said.
None of the residents were home at the time of the fire, Capt. Hanley said.
Police said the owner of the house is Rebecca Waddell, whose address was not known.
A Labrador retriever belonging to one student died in the fire, he added. Although police called in an arson investigator, the officer determined that the fire started accidentally.
“It started in a first-floor living room where we first saw the flames,” Capt. Hanley said.
The exact cause is under investigation by the borough’s fire inspector, he added.
“The fire caused extreme damage,” the captain added.
The fire damaged three floors in the building, borough Engineer Carl Peters said.
“The first floor was pretty heavily damaged. The living room and the hallway had some pretty good-sized holes in the floor,” Mr. Peters said.
Fire also damaged floor supports for the first floor, he said. Rooms on the second and third floor also received damage from both flames and smoke, he said.
“It’s been posted as an unsafe structure,” Mr. Peters said.
Police did not have the names of the firefighters who were injured.