July 21, 1995 (~estimated)

Dumpster Fires Again Keep Firemen Hopping

Early this summer, the Princeton Fire Department and the Borough Police Department noted a plague of garbage dumpster fires in the downtown area. mostly set in the middle of the night, often within minutes of each other, the fires almost always required the attention of firefighters. Police were certain that the fires were the work of an arsonist.

As the summer wore on, the fires ceased, until last week. Police and firefighters responded to three different calls involving fire burning dumpsters.

The first call came in at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday. Two dumpsters were burning in the Princeton University parking lot off of Williams Street.

The dumpsters had barely been extinguished before another call came in, at 12:15 a.m., reporting a similar fire on the grounds of Princeton High School. The second fire was also extinguished.

Less than 24 hours later, at 12:05 a.m. on Monday, a third fire was reported. A pair of dumpsters behind the University’s Fisher Hall, on the east side of the Woodrow Wilson School, were burning.

The firefighters arrived, the dumpster fire had spread to a nearby wooden fence. Both were extinguished.

Police have no suspects in the case.