Generator Fire Causes Evacuation of Office Building

The office building located at 2 Princess Rd. in Lawrence Township was evacuated Monday afternoon (Jan. 23) after the building's emergency power generator - located outside, right next to the structure - caught fire and spewed smoke and flames into the rain-filled sky.

Ultimately, the blaze was contained to the generator and the building was not damaged. No injuries were reported.

The blaze on Princess Road came about a half-hour after an overhead electrical wire and transformer caught fire in the 100 block of Franklin Corner Road, knocking out power to the surrounding area.

Lawrence Township police and volunteer firefighters from Lawrenceville Fire Co. were alerted to the electrical problem about 4 p.m. They quickly closed off the stretch of Franklin Corner Road between Route 1 and Princeton Pike to traffic while waiting for PSE&G utility personnel to arrive and shut off power to the wire and transformer.

The fire went out after the power was turned off and, once the scene was declared safe, the road was reopened.

Lawrenceville Fire Co. Chief Wasko, having just left Franklin Corner Road, was traveling along Princess Road when he spotted a haze that appeared different from the fog that was hanging over the area at the time. So he went to investigate.

“I turned the corner and there was black smoke and fire coming from the generator and people exiting the building,” Wasko said. “The way people were coming out, I was afraid the smoke and fire had extended into the building.”

Wasko immediately grabbed his radio and reported the blaze, prompting the dispatch of all three township volunteer fire companies – Lawrenceville, Slackwood and Lawrence Road – to the scene, along with an ambulance and police officers.

The first priority for firefighters and police, Wasko said, was to make sure all employees and visitors from the building’s various offices were evacuated to safety. Once that was done, firefighters made sure the blaze had not spread into the building and extinguished the generator fire outside, he said.

Wasko said workers who had been inside at the time told firefighters power to the building went out, but then came back on once the building’s emergency generator started. But then someone spotted smoke coming from the generator and people started to leave the building just about the time Wasko arrived.

The exact cause of the generator fire remains under investigation, Wasko said.