Town Topics
12 February, 1992

Early Morning Fire Damages Cherry Valley Road Home

The home of Robert and Jane Altman, 536 Cherry Valley Road, sustained ex-tensive damage following a fire early Tuesday morning.

No one was injured but most of the roof sections, the second floor, and half of the first floor were burned and charred. All three Princeton fire companies and units from the Montgomery and Kingston fire departments responded to the 2:39 general alarm.

After firemen had fought the blaze in the cold morning hours and brought it under control, the section of Cherry Valley Road near Heather Lane was reopened to traffic at 6:40. However, fire apparatus had to be dispatched again when embers flared up around 7.

According to Township police the cause of the fire is accidental. A family member was smoking and dropped a match on the floor after lighting a cigarette. He thought that he had put it out but sparks apparently smoldered and ignited a towel.

After watching television downstairs for 45 minutes he returned and discovered the upstairs engulfed in flames.

Sofas and pieces of furniture from the first floor were carried outside to a side lawn of the mostly wooden two-story home that owner Robert Altman said  had been built in the late 1950s and added onto by previous owners. “The whole upstairs is gone,” he said.

AFTERMATH OF CHERRY VALLEY ROAD FIRE: A home largely gutted and salvaged pieces of furniture are all that remain after an early morning fire at 536 Cherry Valley Road.