On Monday, at least 10 emergency vehicles arrived on Nassau Street, shutting down the street between Olden Street and the intersection of Vandeventer Avenue, Nassau Street, and Washington Road.
The source of the emergency was a blaze in the chimney of 210 Nassau Street, which houses Tipple & Rose Tea Parlor and several apartments, with heavy smoke emanating from the building. Fire departments from Princeton, South Brunswick Township, and Plainsboro Township and first responders from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) arrived at the scene within minutes on Tuesday afternoon.
Michael Yeh, Director of Emergency Services, told The Daily Princetonian that calls were received at 12:33 p.m. According to Yeh, The Princeton Fire Department (PFD), Princeton First Aid Squad, and the Princeton Police Department (PPD) “were dispatched for a structure fire, prompting a call for mutual aid fire apparatus from surrounding Fire Departments.”
Calavino and Doria Donati own Tipple and Rose and shared their experience in an interview with the ‘Prince.’ Opened in 2015, Tipple and Rose is a tea house known for its teas, tisanes, desserts, scones, lunch bites, and bath and body products.
“[A neighbor] came in and said to Doria, ‘Your building is on fire.’ And so she went outside with him and looked up and smoke was coming out of the chimney,” Calavino Donati said. She then called 911, with firefighters arriving “within probably three minutes” to extinguish the fire.
According to Yeh, “Upon arrival, [the fire department] observed heavy smoke and ash venting from the chimney.”
“[Firefighters] were able to get up to the top of the chimney and the furnace room to check things out,” Calavino Donati said. “If there’s soot or there’s birds with nests and things like that, things can start smoldering in chimneys and sending out a thick smoke.”
Moreover, “Firefighters shut down the oil fired furnace, [and] other firefighters checked the chimney on the roof to ensure there was no active fire burning in the chimney,” Yeh said.
The situation was especially distressing for the owners of Tipple and Rose as their home burnt down in July 2023. Calavino Donati said they chose to close down for the day — “For our own personal mental health … it was just best for us to take a step back, deal with the situation, and give ourselves a minute to just breathe.”
A crowd of about 15 onlookers gathered to watch emergency services tend to the smoke from the steps of businesses across the street. Students were mostly unaffected, with emergency personnel directing traffic allowing individuals to walk along the south side of Nassau Street.
This stretch of Nassau Street is no stranger to building fires. In April 2022, 185 Nassau Street — the old Lewis Center for the Arts and current home of the Visual Arts (VIS) Program — endured a small fire which began in a garbage can.
After extinguishing the fire just after 1 p.m., emergency services worked to ensure it would not reignite before giving the all clear by 2:30 p.m.
“Even after they gave the all clear for people to come back in, we personally thought it was best to keep [Tipple and Rose] closed until the furnace was checked out … we wanted to make sure that it was safe for customers and for ourselves to be in the building,” Calavino said. She then said inspectors who arrived at the building later in the day determined that the source of the fire was indeed the chimney and not the furnace.
A sign posted on the door informed visitors that the restaurant was “closed for an emergency with the apartments above.”
According to Yeh, no damage was observed, and a contractor serviced the furnace and cleared the chimney of creosote.
“Now that we know that it’s safe, now that we know that it was just the chimney, we’re back open tomorrow,” Calavino Donati said.
The heat of Tipple & Rose and related apartments was restored yesterday afternoon.
The PPPL declined to comment and forwarded questions to the PPD and PFD.
Louisa Gheorghita is a staff News writer and photographer for the ‘Prince.’
Ryan Konarska is an associate Data editor and staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’
Head News Editor Sandeep Mangat contributed reporting.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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