Custodian’s cigarette caused fire at N.J. elementary school

A custodian has been charged with smoking inside the James Monroe Elementary School in Edison Township after a Saturday night fire destroyed the school, and investigators pointed to a tossed cigarette as the cause. Jerome C. Higgins, 48, of East Brunswick, was issued the summons for smoking in a public place in violation of a statute that prohibits smoking and/or carrying lighted tobacco materials.