The family was awakened by their two restless dogs to find a blaze in their garage
PRINCETON - When a Princeton woman awoke to the sound of her two restless dogs early Wednesday morning she found her garage in flames.
She quickly ushered her husband, her son, his girlfriend and the family's pets safely from the home on the 300 block of Riverside Drive while firefighters rushed to the scene around 2 a.m., Princeton Director of Emergency Management Bob Gregory said.
The fire started in the garage and eventually spread to the two-story house.
The garage collapsed from the flames, destroying a vehicle and motorcycle in the process, according to a statement from Princeton police. Three other vehicles parked outside were also destroyed in the blaze.
Police said 75 firefighters from thirteen departments responded to the scene and worked to get the flames under control by 2:30 a.m. - but their work was far from over.
As they were clearing out the scene, firefighters noticed a gas line in the front yard that had ruptured, starting a blaze that was, "burning like a fire pit," Gregory said.
Firefighters determined that a meter on the front of the house had broken off when the garage collapsed, causing the ruptured gas line.
There was no way to shut off the gas from the house so firefighters called the gas company to help cap the line. Gregory said it took around two hours to find the gas line and dig into the ground to cap it off.
"They had to get a backhoe to dig out the garage," Gregory added.
Crews were still out at the scene around 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Fire officials are working to determine the cause of the fire.
Gregory said around 60 percent of the house was destroyed by heat, smoke and water damage. The garage was collapsed and the whole building is uninhabitable after the blaze, he said.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman