Princeton Packet
23 September 1981

Fire damages village area townhouses

The Princeton Community Village area was hit by two fires last week.

At 9:58 p.m. on Sept. 21 Princeton Township police and about 70 volunteers from the three Princeton fire companies war called to extinguish a blare in a three-bedroom townhouse at 42 Tupelo Row.

The owner of the structure, Elinor Little, said that she was asleep on the second story of the townhouse when she awoke to find her bedroom filled with smoke.
the woman then lied unscathed from the house to call for help when the house was engulfed by flames.

The fire gutted the entire second floor of the house before firefighters could bring the blaze under control about 20 minutes later. The first floor of the house received extensive water and smoke damage.

Although firewalls on either side of the house prevented the flames from igniting adjoining structures, other townhouses were evacuated, according to police.
An investigation by Fire Chief Ralph Hulit and Mercer County Fire Marshall George F. Lenhardt revealed that the fire was caused by a faulty electrical connection in a television set in the first floor living room.

A second fire broke out at 4:38 p.m. on Sept. 21 at 24 Mulberry Row, according to police.

Four patrol cars responded to the call but by the time they arrived the fire, caused by an overheated pot on a stove, had been extinguished by a neighbor with little damage done to the house.

Photo Caption:

THE TOWNHOUSE on Tupelo Row in the Princeton Community Village was gutted by fire Thursday night. Police and fire officials blamed the blaze on faulty television wiring.