Crime & Safety

Three-Alarm Fire Damages Historic Lawrence Building

The William Gulick House on Route 206 in Lawrence Township was built in the 1850s.

The historic William Gulick House – widely regarded as the best example of high-style Italianate architecture in Lawrence Township – was damaged by a three-alarm fire that forced police to close Lawrence Road (Route 206) for hours today (Tuesday, Sept. 6) and, in turn, created considerable traffic problems during the morning rush for commuters and students trying to get to school on the first day of the new academic year.

Investigators from the township and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office are currently probing the cause of the blaze but preliminary evidence suggests an electrical fault may have been to blame, fire officials said.

The full extent of damage to the building – which was built about 1855 – is not yet know, but fire officials said firefighters had to cut away parts of the floor to reach hidden pockets of fire and break windows to release trapped smoke.

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It was 7:59 a.m. when Lawrence Township police received a call about smoke in the area of Lawrence Road and Province Line Road. The township’s daytime duty crew of career firefighters and volunteer firefighters from Lawrenceville Fire Co. were dispatched to investigate.

Just minutes later, John Welling, chief of emergency services at Bristol-Myers Squibb, spotted “heavy smoke” coming from the third-floor of the Gulick House, which is located in the 3600 block of Lawrence Road adjacent to Squibb’s sprawling Lawrence Township campus.

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Volunteers from Lawrence Township’s two other fire companies – Lawrence Road and Slackwood – were dispatched as the balance of the first alarm. It soon became apparent that additional manpower and equipment was needed to fight the blaze, so second and third alarms were transmitted.

Responding on those additional alarms to help out were firefighters from the Princeton Fire Department, Hopewell Borough Fire Co., Pennington Borough Fire Co., and the Pennington Road and Prospect Heights fire companies of Ewing Township.

Emergency medical personnel from Lawrence and Princeton also responded. At least two firefighters who were shocked by an electrical current while fighting the blaze were being treated on the scene, fire officials said.

Because of the fire, township police closed Lawrence Road (Route 206) between Province Line Road and Fackler Road. That created major traffic problems for commuter vehicles and school buses along Lawrence Road, Province Line Road, Fackler Road, Princeton Pike and other local roads.

The fire was officially declared under control about 9:15 a.m. but fire apparatus and hoses still clogged the road for some time after that while firefighters worked to ensure the blaze was complete out and not still smoldering unseen somewhere in the house.

The northbound lane of Lawrence Road was reopened to traffic at 10:45 a.m., while the southbound lane reopened about 11:15 a.m.

“I do not know the extent of the damage and so cannot comment on how great a loss this is,” Lawrence Township Historian Dennis Waters said about 10:30 this morning. “Nonetheless, the Gulick House, because of its prominent location, is one of the best-known historic landmarks in Lawrence, as well as one of our best-known eyesores – a daily reminder of the cost of neglecting our heritage.

“It was built as a farmhouse in about 1855 and, for those interested in architectural history, is perhaps the finest example of high-style Italianate architecture in Lawrence,” Waters said. “It has been threatened with demolition for many years, and in 2007 was placed on Preservation New Jersey's annual list of the ten most endangered sites in the state.

“Given the , Lawrence has really taken a one-two punch when it comes to these important pieces of our history,” Waters added.      


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