Trentonian
28 January 1981

Blaze Damages Princeton Home

By CHUCK DAVIS
Staff Writer

PRINCETON TWP — Fire ripped through the second story of a vacant house owned by investment banker Frank Petito in a fashionable neighborhood here last night.

Flames were spotted shooting through the roof of the house on Lambert Drive by a neighbor shortly after 8 p.m. and firefighters fought the blaze more than 90 minutes, according to Ralph Hulit Jr. chief of the Princeton Fire Company.

Firemen remained on the scene until 11 p.m. No one was home when the blaze started and no injuries were reported The fire, which is under investigation, was confined to the second story Hulit said it appeared to have started from an electrical source.

Petito’s son said at the scene last night that his father had been moving and was selling the two-story brick and frame home on the secluded, tree-lined drive.

“The fire started in the attic and broke through the roof, but (firefighters) confined the fire to the attic.’ Hulit said. “Parts of the first floor received water damage.” he said Born in Trenton. Petito is a graduate of Princeton University and is involved in investment banking, according to a recent edition of “Who’s Who in America.”

Petito has served as director of The Upjohn Co., Rio Algom Mines Ltd. and Anderson Clayton and Co., according to the publication