Small Fire Fills Private School with Smoke in Lawrence

A small fire generated a lot of smoke that filled the Chapin School in Lawrence Township this afternoon, Dec. 31.

Actual fire damage was contained to a stove in the kitchen of the private PreK-to-Grade 8 school at 4101 Princeton Pike but firefighters were on the scene for about an hour removing the smoke.

It was about 12:55 p.m. when township police and volunteer firefighters were initially dispatched for a fire alarm system activation at the school. The first arriving police officer discovered a fire in the kitchen.

The police officer was able to use a portable extinguisher to douse the blaze, officials at the scene said.

Volunteer firefighters from the Slackwood, Lawrenceville and Lawrence Road fire companies made sure the fire was out and set up several fans to clear away the smoke that had spread throughout the building.

Police and Lawrence Township Fire Marshal Dale Robbins are investigating the blaze, but officials at the scene said it appeared someone accidentally left a plastic bucket sitting atop one of the burners on a stove in the school kitchen and heat from the burner’s pilot light eventually ignited the bucket.

As is normal following such fires, the Lawrence Township Health Department was notified to conduct an inspection of the kitchen as a result of the smoke and fire extinguisher powder that covered the cooking and food preparation areas, officials said.