Category Archives: Government/Military

Muncie, IN – Truck fire in city garage contained by sprinkler system; No injuries

Crews were called to the scene of a Muncie Street Department building Tuesday morning in response to a fire. Crews arrived at a building in the 5700 block of West Kilgore Avenue. The call came is as a “truck on fire inside the city streets garage” around 9:30 a.m. A plow truck was sitting in the garage to keep it out of the weather when employees heard a “whooshing” sound. Fire erupted underneath the hood of the engine compartment. The fire was contained to the truck, and the building’s sprinkler system did its job. There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Mt Vernon, KY – Overnight fire at county jail suppressed by sprinkler system

A fire early Wednesday at the Rockcastle County jail caused 13 inmates and two jail employees to be sent to hospitals with smoke inhalation.  Police and fire officials were called about 3:20 a.m. to the jail, which housed 102 inmates at the time, Kentucky State Trooper Lloyd Cochran said.

Four jail employees were in the building at the time State police suspect arson, Cochran said. The investigation is open, and no arrests have been made. None of the injuries were thought to be life-threatening, and many of those hospitalized have been released, Cochran said. The injured were taken to hospitals in Rockcastle and Laurel counties.

The fire caused heavy smoke and water damage, Cochran said. It could be closed for several weeks.

All of the inmates were transported to the Laurel County Correctional Center, Cochran said. It was unclear whether the prisoners would be able to stay there until repairs are made to the Rockcastle County jail.

 

Jail employees told police that alarm and sprinkler systems worked as they are supposed to, Cochran said. State police will be able to confirm that alarms and sprinklers worked properly after the investigation is completed.

Ocean City, MD – Sprinklers praised for stopping fire at town’s Service Center Warehouse

Fire sprinklers in an Ocean City building are attributed to a quickly put out fire last week.

Around 1:30 a.m. Nov. 22, the Ocean City Fire Department was dispatched to an automatic fire alarm at the town’s Service Center Warehouse on 65th Street, according to a press release.

“By these two fire sprinklers activating, city ambulances, police cars, busses, street sweepers, and other essential equipment was saved,” Fire Marshal David W. Hartley said in the release. “This example shows the huge impact sprinklers have not just in a home, but also in reducing the average loss of property during a fire in a commercial structure.”

When firefighters arrived, they found the 12,000 square foot vehicle garage filled with smoke. The call for service was upgraded to a building fire, according to the release, which brought additional fire and EMS resources.

Firefighters found two sprinkler heads that were activated extinguished the fire before the department was dispatched.

On-scene investigation showed the fire started due to a machine malfunction and was classified accidental. The building was unoccupied at the time of the fire.

Montrose, CO – Fire at airport restaurant put out with help from sprinkler system

A small fire broke out at the Montrose Regional Airport Wednesday morning. The airport’s Director of Aviation tells us it happened early Wednesday morning in the kitchen of a restaurant inside the terminal.

No one was inside the kitchen at the time of the fire and the sprinkler system helped put it out. The airport is still operating as normal. There was minimal damage to property and no threat to public safety. Airport operations were not impacted and cleanup is underway.

County Manager Ken Norris says they hope to have the restaurant back open by Saturday for their Tribute to Aviation event.

Huntsville, AL – Fire at U.S. Space & Rocket Center put out with help from sprinkler system

Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a small fire that broke out at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center last Wednesday night. The fire broke out around 8:30 p.m. in a workroom inside the main museum building. Pat Ammons, media and public relations manager for the center, said that the building’s sprinkler system got a jump start on extinguishing the blaze and that Huntsville firefighters finished the job within minutes of the alarm.

“Everybody was just so responsive,” Ammons said.  Fire damage is seen inside a workroom at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, where a small blaze ignited Wednesday night. No one was injured in the fire, and the cause is still under investigation. (Contributed by U.S. Space & Rocket Center)

Though smoke filled the building and there was some electrical damage, which knocked out the center’s phone lines through the day Thursday, the damage was minimal, Ammons said.

There were people inside the building at the time of the fire, including a group of about three dozen Space Camp trainees, but no one was near the area of the fire. The Space & Rocket Center was also hosting Wing Ding 37, an annual gathering of Gold Wing owners, but Wednesday night’s reception was being held in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration.

The center opened as usual at 9 a.m. Thursday morning

Florence, AZ – No injuries after sprinklers douse fire inside prison laundry room

A fire broke out at a private prison in Florence Saturday afternoon, according to a town official. According to an official with the town of Florence, a fire broke out a Corrections Corporation of America facility in Florence.

CCA said the fire started in a dryer in a laundry room. The fire went up a vent where it caught plastic, that was on the roof, on fire. CCA said the cause of the heavy black smoke was the plastic burning.

The fire inside the building was extinguished by the internal sprinkler system, according to CCA, while firefighters extinguished the outside. The fire was not in a living area of the prison, but according to the town of Florence official the fire did cause “serious damage” to the facility. There were no injuries.

Brenham, TX – Sprinklers activate to help contain fire that started in jail laundry; No injuries

An overnight fire in the laundry room at the Washington County Jail set off the alarms and the sprinkler system, according to Chief Deputy Jay Petrash . The jail staff discovered the fire around early Tuesday morning. Brenham Fire Department personnel arrived within minutes extinguishing the flames.

Fire personnel used high pressured fans to remove heavy smoke from the area, while jail work crews cleaned the charred clothing from the machines and removed water from the room and hallway. Chief Petrash said that none of the 100 housed inmates or jail personnel had to be evacuated, and no one was injured. The fire is believed to have started due to a build- up of lent in one of the dryer’s filter, however, the cause is still being investigated by the Brenham Fire Marshall’s Office.

Sheriff’s Office personnel are still assessing the damage and will be awaiting review by insurance as it relates to replacement of equipment and costs.

Yuma, AZ – Sprinklers knock down fire at Department of Transportation garage

On Wednesday, just after 8:30 pm, the smell of smoke was reported in the 2100 block of east Gila Ridge Road. Yuma Fire Department personnel arrived in the area and began to search for the source. A short time later smoke was found to be coming from a garage in the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) yard at 2165 east Gila Ridge Road.

Firefighters gained access to the locked garage and found an ADOT utility truck on fire inside. The fire had mostly been knocked down by the fire suppression sprinkler system inside the garage. Firefighters extinguished the remaining fire and confirmed it had not spread further. Damage was limited to the vehicle and to sections of the garage directly above the truck. Several other vehicles, as well as additional tools and equipment, were undamaged. Fire investigators believe the fire originated in some equipment on the utility truck. The fire is not considered to have been intentionally set.

Fire sprinkler systems can keep fires from spreading and can also extinguish them. Fire spreads quickly and can double in size every minute. Even small fires can cause significant damage to personal property and endanger those nearby. Contrary to many Hollywood portrayals, only sprinkler heads directly exposed to the heat (155 degrees for a residential sprinkler) activate, not those in the rest of the room, building, or complex.

Murfreesboro, TN – Jail fire quickly extinguished by sprinkler system

A nurse suffered smoke inhalation during a medical office fire Saturday afternoon at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center, according to a release from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office. Rutherford County Emergency Medical Services paramedics took the nurse to St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital for treatment, the release stated.

Sprinklers quickly extinguished the fire confined to the medical director’s office, but smoke filled the first floor of the medical wing and administrative offices, according to the release. Water from the sprinkler flooded the medical hallway, dispatch and the administrative hallways. 

Deputies used fire extinguishers to put out hot spots, official said. Murfreesboro Fire and Rescue firefighters estimated 35 gallons of water per minute dropped from the sprinklers, Sheriff Robert Arnold said in the release. Deputies, the sheriff and inmates mopped water from the hallways. 

The Murfreesboro Fire & Rescue Department and Rutherford County Fire Rescue responded to clear the area of smoke that filled the hallways, officials said. The water and smoke damage did not spread to the inmate housing areas.  

Arnold asked Murfreesboro Fire & Rescue to investigate the cause of the fire with help from sheriff’s arson investigator Detective Randy Groce.  “It’s unfortunate this incident happened,” Arnold said in the release. “Thank God, no one was seriously hurt.”

Arnold thanked Murfreesboro Fire & Rescue, Rutherford Fire Rescue, Sheriff’s Office employees and inmates for their quick response.

Cleveland, OH – Sprinkler system contains overnight fire at government office

According to Cleveland fire officials, a computer on the fourth floor caught fire at Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s headquarters at 3900 Euclid Avenue just after midnight Monday. The sprinkler system was triggered and contained the fire to the desk where the computer was located near the middle of the building.

Cleveland firefighters said the windows in the building are bolted shut and that delayed them from clearing the smoke. Firefighters used four large fans to ventilate the building once the windows were opened. Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District CEO Julius Ciaccia Jr. said they will be open Monday and the damage was minimal to the area of the fire on the fourth floor. The scene was cleared just before 1:30 a.m.