Fire leaves home uninhabitable METUCHEN - Authorities believe a cigarette thrown in a garbage can last week has left a single-family McPherson Avenue home uninhabitable. "The fire has been ruled accidental, not suspicious," said Metuchen Fire Chief Robert Donnan. No one was home when the fire started in the second-floor bedroom on or about 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 23. "The mother and father were at work," said Donnan. "When the son came home and saw the smoke, he called the fire department." The Metuchen Fire Department responded to the fire with the Edison EMS on standby. No one was hurt. "We had the fire under control in 10 minutes," said Donnan. "The fire destroyed the second-floor bedroom and all its contents; the entire second floor had heavy heat and smoke damage; and the first floor had smoke damage."