Town Topics
4 February 1981

(Continued from Page 4)

FIRE DAMAGES HOME
On Province Line Road, two fire trucks and 20 Princeton firemen joined 30 firemen from Lawrence Township Friday in battling a morning fire that extensively damaged the home of Scott McVay, 4566 Province Line Road.

The second floor and cedar- shake roof of the two-story home were destroyed — the areas were engulfed in flames when firemen arrived shortly after 11. A defective oil burner in a first-floor utility is believed to have started the fire, although its cause is still under investigation.

Firemen were hampered in their efforts by an absence of nearby hydrants. They had to lay nearly a mile of hose — 4,700 feet — from the nearest hydrant at Rosedale Road and Province Line.

“The home was devastated,” said Princeton Fire Chief Ralph Hulit Jr. “The whole roof is gone.” One of Princeton’s two assisting fire trucks was hooked to a hydrant at Rosedale; the second was in a relay providing a water line to the McVay home.

According to Lawrence Fire Chief Earl Wilbur, Mrs. McVay was home in the second floor when she heard something crackling. She went outside to find heavy black smoke coming from the chimney.

Car Fire. Two Princeton fire trucks responded to a car fire Monday afternoon at 4:22 on Nassau Street near Bayard Lane. The fire call was cancelled at 4:26, after police had virtually extinguished the fire.

Capt. Theodore Lewis reported that the fire was confined to the engine area of a 1974 foreign car. He identified the owner only as a resident of Cranbury.