All posts by viking210

Residential, Residential High Rise

Chicago, IL – Kitchen fire in downtown residential high-rise smothered by sprinkler system

** FIRE DEPT REPORTED *** Chicago Fire Department – Fire in a High Rise – 30 S Jefferson St Chicago, IL

A minor kitchen fire was put out by a sprinkler system at 10:54 am. BC3 reports smoke conditions in a high-rise building and requests a fill out to a “Still in a High-Rise.” Aerial Tower 1 checking the East Stairwell Fire Attack Stairwell. T1 assigned west stairwell.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Las Vegas, NV – Sprinkler system helps extinguish fire caused by exploding fuel tank

An automatic sprinkler system extinguished a “flash fire” before it could spread last Friday morning at a warehouse near Valley View Boulevard and Desert Inn Road, according to Las Vegas Fire & Rescue. Two workers were wielding a 250-gallon diesel fuel tank when vapors ignited to cause the explosion at the shop in the 3000 block of Sirius Avenue.

The sprinkler system kicked in and the employees used fire extinguishers to quickly put out the blaze before firefighters arrived. There were no injuries. The building remained intact and damage was estimated at $1,500. The fire was deemed accidental.

Apartment Building, Residential High Rise

Danville, VA – High rise apartment fire put out by sprinkler system; No injuries

Two Danville House apartments were damaged in a Saturday afternoon fire blamed on unattended cooking. The Danville Fire Department responded to the call on the eighth floor in apartment No. 802 at 600 Main St. at about 1:45 p.m., according to a news release.

A fire in the kitchen had been extinguished by a sprinkler system but filled the apartment with smoke. “After confirming there was no additional fire, the engine company stopped the flow of water from the sprinkler head,” Battalion Chief Brian K. Alderson said in the release. “Water was running down into apartments on the seventh floor.”

Crews redirected water out a window and covered furniture and other valuables with salvage covers, Alderson said. Power to the affected apartments also was turned off. Firefighters stayed on scene until about 340 p.m. There were no injuries.

The apartment on the eighth floor received smoke, heat and water damage, and another apartment on the seventh floor received water damage. The Danville chapter of the American Red Cross is helping one occupant and her pet.

Another occupant will stay with family. “All other tenants were allowed to return to their respective apartments,” Alderson said.  The cause of the fire was unattended cooking, according to the release.

“The DFD reminds everyone to stay alert and in the kitchen when cooking,” Alderson said. “The sprinkler system at the Danville House kept this fire from becoming a large fire that would have displaced many residents.”

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Billings, MT – Sprinkler system limits spread of fire in bakery’s ventilation system

A Tuesday morning fire in the company’s Grand Avenue location damaged the main bakery operation, but it will only be temporary, said owner Bill Harrison. The small fire started in the ventilation system, he said. That triggered the sprinklers, and now a cleanup effort is underway. But the business is without bagels, for now.

The downtown Grand Bagel location gets its staple supply from the bakery at 2135 Grand Ave. Until everything is up and running again, the downtown shop will remain open with sandwiches, sweet rolls, biscuits and other menu items. The Grand Avenue shop is normally open on a limited basis to customers but will resume operation after the cleanup effort, Harrison said. The damage didn’t affect the front end severely.

“It was mostly isolated to our ovens area where our equipment is,” Harrison Said. He added that the main equipment will need cleaning and not replacement. They’re working with a damage restoration company, and a public health inspector was scheduled to check the space on Thursday, he said.

It’s unknown when full bagel baking will resume. Prior to the incident, business had been good, Harrison said. There had been growth in business at the Grand Avenue location, even with limited hours. The downtown business is steady. “Downtown is doing well,” he said. “It doesn’t fluctuate a whole lot. We appreciate the customer loyalty a lot.”

Apartment Building, Residential

Conroe, TX – Apartment kitchen fire extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries

2 Comments

** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED**
The City of Conroe Fire Department was notified of an apartment fire at 500 Hickerson St. near N Frazier St. (Hollow Creek Apartments) at approximately 10:34 AM on June 22, 2016. Conroe Firefighters arrived at approximately 10:38 AM and discovered that there had been a fire in the kitchen of one of the apartment units which activated two sprinkler heads and extinguished the fire. There were no reported injuries to firefighters or occupants of the building.  Fire damage was confined to the kitchen area.  Water damage was confined to the apartment of origin.  The cause of the fire was unattended cooking and was determined to be unintentional.

For the second time in one week within the City of Conroe, the importance of properly installed and maintained automatic fire sprinkler systems in residential occupancies has been demonstrated. It is likely that the automatic fire sprinkler system saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and property loss to the building’s owners and occupants.  Further, no adjacent occupants were displaced and possible injuries and deaths to citizens and firefighters were prevented.

Automatic fire sprinkler systems have over 100 years of proven performance protecting life and property. The Conroe Fire Department would like to remind the public that unattended cooking is the leading cause of residential fires in Conroe, and throughout the United States, each year.  Being mindful while you cook, however, can go a long way toward helping to prevent these fires:

**Keep an eye on what you fry
**Be alert when cooking
**Keep things that can catch fire away from the cooking area

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Santa Cruz, CA – Laundry room fire at assisted living center held in check by sprinkler system

Residents of Paradise Villa Assisted Living on 17th Avenue were evacuated Monday morning after a fire broke out in a laundry room.  No one was injured, said Central Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Breasher.

The blaze started about 9:55 a.m. at the two-story complex at 2177 17th Ave. in Live Oak. Residents were evacuated as thick smoke spread from a laundry room, Breasher said. Firefighters found a clothes dryer on fire.

“The automatic fire sprinkler system activated and held the fire in check until the firefighters could finish extinguishing the flames,” Breasher said.  It took about 15 minutes to contain the blaze and 30 minutes to fully control it, Breasher said.

Members of the American Red Cross of the Central Coast provided shade tents and drinking water to 23 residents and nine employees who were evacuated, Breasher said. Firefighters removed smoke and water from the building and residents were allowed to return.

Firefighters continued to investigate the exact cause of the fire on Tuesday.  Santa Cruz Fire, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, American Medical Response, California Highway Patrol and PG&E also responded.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Fort Worth, TX – Sprinklers activate after books set on fire during elementary school break-in

There has been a break-in and six classrooms vandalized on the campus of a Crowley Independent School District elementary school.

The vandalism happened at Meadowcreek Elementary in Fort Worth, where Monday cleanup crews were busy mopping up.

In all, six rooms received water damage after fires caused the sprinkler system to go off. In addition to damage inside the school, graffiti was also spray-painted outside the building.

On what is supposed to be summer vacation, school officials are back on the Meadowbrook campus to oversee the cleanup of charred debris from burned books and school supplies.

According to a Crowley ISD spokesperson, the school was broken into and the books set on fire around 3 a.m. Monday. Right now, investigators are also looking in to whether several computer monitors were also stolen.

School cameras captured video of the suspect. It’s since been turned over to Fort Worth police.

Crowley district spokesperson Anthony Kirchner explained that the cleanup is expected to take a couple of weeks.

“It is disheartening to see that someone would cause this kind of damage and we want to make sure that person is apprehended,” he said adding that the summer break gives the district time for cleanup, repairs and equipment replacement. “This happened at a time when no students or teachers were here and we have plenty of time to get everything back.”

This isn’t the first time vandals have struck at Meadowcreek. This past Friday a window was broken at the school. It isn’t known if the two cases are connected.

Classes resume in the Crowley ISD on August 22.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Arcola, IL – Fire at senior living facility contained to one room by sprinkler system

In a fire minutes count. Practice and training pay off. On Saturday morning at about 1:30am staff at Carriage Crossing in the Green Mill Village development in Arcola noticed smoke.  Within moments are fire sprinkler was activated and staff at the assisted living facility began evacuating residents near the area of the fire.  With the help of firefighters all 46 residents were removed from the building.

“Those individuals and those residents were out within seven minutes. So the training paid off.  Everyone stayed very calm,” Cassie Yoder of Green Mill Village told WAND’s Doug Wolfe.  “Residents were with the people they knew.”

Residents are now housed in the adjoining Best Western Plus which is a sister property to Carriage Crossing. Residents and staff have settled in to a normal routine. On Monday, clean-up was underway.

“Most of the damage is just from the sprinkler system and water damage,” said co-owner Jeff Bentley. “It’s contained to one room and at this point we don’t know what caused it yet.”

Bentley says his company has constructed a new facility in Champaign that is similar to the one in Arcola. His staff is attempting to get state licensing to speed up so some of the residents can be moved to Champaign.

The state fire marshal’s office was at Carriage Crossing on Monday attempting to determine a cause of the fire.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Marshall, MO – Sprinklers help extinguish bedroom fire at home for developmentally disabled

A bedroom fire at Northwest Community Services — previously known as the Marshall Habilitation Center — Saturday, June 25, could have resulted in more damage than was done.

According to the Marshall Fire Department, firefighters arrived to a call at NCS shortly before 6 p.m., seeing light smoke. The incident occurred in unit 221, and the unit’s sprinkler system had activated by the time MFD arrived.

“We were there for a while, because of the water damage,” Marshall Fire Chief Tony Day said, indicating there was more water damage than fire damage because the sprinklers “did their job.” MFD started ventilation, removed burnt clothing from the residential unit and turned the scene over to maintenance once they confirmed the fire was out.

After further investigation into the cause of the fire, one of the residents admitted to setting her clothes on fire and flushing the lighter down a toilet, Day said. In addition to destroying clothes, the fire burned the armoire they were stored in and scorched the walls, but not badly. MFD left the scene at 7:15 p.m.

There was an estimated property loss of $10,000, and content loss was estimated at $3,000.

Northwest Community Services, a developmental disability facility, is located at 700 E. Slater Street, in north Marshall.

Other - Residential, Residential

Adams, MA – No injuries reported as sprinkler system puts out fire at homeless shelter

Twelve Louison House residents were displaced after a small attic fire that was largely extinguished by the house’s sprinkler system.

Assistant Fire Chief John Pansecchi said the electrical fire broke out in the attic around 11:45 Sunday morning but was quickly snuffed out by the family support center’s sprinkler system.

“There were no injuries and minimal fire damage, and I can’t stress enough how much the sprinkler system probably saved that building,” Pansecchi said. “The sprinklers put the fire out in the area so basically we just investigated and tried to determine the cause.”

He said the water damage was caused by the sprinkler system and two families and four individuals were put up at a nearby hotel. The Louison House and the Red Cross provided this support.

It is unknown at this point when residents can move back into the house; the building inspector must make a ruling first.

Pansecchi said the Adams Police and Ambulance were present and Cheshire Fire covered the Adams Station.

Pansecchi said the knockdown was a great success and went smoothly.

“It was a success,” he said. “It was an hour and a half for us there compared to the four hours we spent on Park Street.”