PRINCETON – A lit cigarette and some dry leaves are being blamed for a fire that "extensively" damaged a Morre Street home Friday afternoon, according to police.
Officers responded to 156 Morre Street in the borough at 12:43 p.m. Friday after a resident called to report the rear of the home on fire, according to a police press release.
Units arrived at the scene and saw the rear of the home "engulfed" in flames and the residents evacuated, according to the release.
Fire units from Station 60, Tower 60, Engine 60, SS-60, CV-1, CV-2, Cv-3, and FM91-2 as well as mutual aid units from Rocky Hill, Plainsboro, Princeton Plasma Physics, Kingston, south Brunswick and Princeton Junction arrived at 12:50 p.m. to battle the blaze, according to the release.
The fire was under control by 1:35 p.m. and the rear of the house recieved extensive damage, police said.
According to police, the resident of the home accidentally started the fire by discarding a lit cigarette on a pile of dry leaves and a plastic rain diverter, which caught fire and then spread to the exterior wall and deck area of the home.
There were no reported injuries to the residents or the about 60 fire personell and six medical technicians on the scene.
As of Sunday, police could not say if the home was habitable or if the residents had been relocated.
