14 May, 1990 (~estimated)

Lots of Smoke and Heat; Less Fire at Eating Club

A basement fire early Friday morning that filled the Quadrangle Club on Prospect Avenue with heavy smoke was confined to that area by firemen.

One fireman, David Thickens, was released from Princeton Medical Center after treatment of a head injury he received when he fell down a staircase.

Police received a call at 12:30 from a student club member reporting excessive smoke in the building. When Sgt. Donald Dawson arrived in his patrol car, he saw students milling around outside and smoke coming out the windows from the smoke-engulfed building.

Princeton Fire Chief Eric Karch later determined that fire first broke out in a basement closet after an electrical circuit breaker which had been smoldering beneath the club’s kitchen started to burn. Fire spread from inside the closet up to the ceiling to part of the kitchen floor. Fortunately, firemen were able to bring the blaze under control in about 40 minutes and prevent the flames from spreading any further. No students were injured in the blaze but there was heat and smoke damage.