All posts by viking210

College/University (on campus), School / University

Sprinklers control college bathroom fire started by arsonist (Fort Pierce, FL)

Fort Pierce police arrested an 18-year-old student for the arson fire that started in an upstairs bathroom at Indian River State College Tuesday morning.  Respondents to a 911 call found a bathroom trash can on fire, which caused the fire sprinklers and alarm to go off.  Police said school administrators alerted them to a possible suspect, who was taken in for questioning.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Sprinkler system assists firefighters at hotel fire (Sioux Falls, SD)

Firefighters responded to a fire at a hotel at 9:30 on Thursday, July 17. The three-story hotel’s fire began in a clothes dryer in the hotel’s first floor. The hotel’s occupants evacuated safely while the sprinkler system went off and kept the fire from spreading further. The fire was put out within 10 minutes. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Fire sprinkler system proves worth in apartment kitchen fire (Des Moines, IA)

A sprinkler system saved a Des Moines apartment from further damage after a fire started in the unit’s kitchen, officials said.  A fire had started while one of the occupants was cooking, officials said. 
Fire officials called the incident a “perfect example of how the fire protection systems required in these residential structures can save lives and property.”

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

Baseball stadium fire contained by fire sprinkler system (York, PA)

An early morning fire at a concession stand in Santander Stadium was extinguished Saturday with little damage done, said York City Fire Department Chief David Michaels.  A compressor in the cooling unit of the first-base-side concession stand overheated and caught fire around 6 a.m., Michaels said.  He said the fire was contained by the park’s sprinkler system.  The damage was minimal enough that planned events at Santander Stadium were able to go on as normal on Saturday, he said.

“If not for the sprinkler, it would have been a totally different outcome,” Michaels said. “It could have been a significant fire.”

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Sprinkler system saves manufacturing plant from sustaining major damage (Thomasville, NC)

A sprinkler system saved a manufacturing plant from sustaining major damage, said Robbie Binkley, battalion chief for the Thomasville Fire Department.  Rocky Watts, division chief of code enforcement/fire marshal for the TFD, said the plant housed 100 gallons of sulfuric acid mixed with water in a chemical open system. He explained the fire was around the system. Watts said it appears the fire was a result of a shortage in the electrical wiring in the heating element of a chemical holding tank.  There was no structural damage and minimal smoke damage, the battalion chief reported. 

A fire destroyed the same business 10 years ago, at which time it did not have a sprinkler system, he said.  The sprinkler system “kept the fire in check and saved the building,” Binkley said. Watts said the company cleans racing parts and places a coating on them.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Fire sprinkler system extinguished industrial fire at recycling plant (Sidney, OH)

Crews were called to an industrial fire Sunday night inside a plastics recycling plant.  There were no workers in the facility at the time of the fire.  Smoke was visible from a door outside of the facility, but the fire remained inside and was extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system. The fire suppression equipment worked just as it’s intended, said Sidney fire officials.

Apartment Building, Residential

Apartment fire knocked down by sprinklers (Yuma, AZ)

Last week, fire and rescue departments responded to a kitchen fire in an apartment unit. The fire began when grease that was cooking ignited, and when the resident threw water on the fire, it flared up and spread quickly to the ventilation fans and surrounding cabinets. The apartment was equipped with fire sprinklers, which activated upon the fire and extinguished the flames. No injuries were reported.