Category Archives: Hospital/Care Facility

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Bend, OR – Sprinkler system extinguishes laundry room fire at rehabilitation center, No injuries reported

A laundry room fire Sunday afternoon at Pilot Butte Rehabilitation in northeast Bend was stopped by the facility’s fire sprinkler system, an official said.

A fire alarm report was received by Bend Fire & Rescue just after 3:30 p.m. It soon was upgraded to a structure fire response after staff found smoking coming from the laundry room of the facility, in the 1800 block of Northeast Highway 20, Deputy Fire Marshal Jeff Bond said.

Crews arrived to find that the sprinkler system had activated and completed putting it out, Bond said. There were no injuries and minimal heat and water damage. No smoke entered the patient area of the building, the official added.

The exact cause of the fire was under investigation, Bond said. The fire sprinkler and alarm systems were back in operation in about two hours.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Ann Arbor, MI – Fire at hospital extinguished with help from sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Multiple fire crews from across Washtenaw County responded to a three-alarm fire inside Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor Tuesday afternoon.

Fire crews were called at 3:28 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, to a fire at Michigan Medicine’s University Hospital facility for a report of a fire on the third floor, according to the Ann Arbor Fire Department.

Crews arrived and went to the third floor, a mechanical floor with no hospital patients, and found heavy smoke and an active fire in a very large air handling unit the building’s sprinkler system was unable to extinguish on its own, officials said.

Using the AAFD’s tower truck, firefighters stretched 250 feet of high-rise hose line from a standpipe to extinguish the fire as additional fire crew were called to the hospital, officials said.

The fire was able to be contained while additional crew searched the upper floors to check for any additional smoke or fire spread, officials said.

There were no reported injuries or significant damage to the hospital, but there was smoke in a few patient care units, according to an alert from Michigan Medicine.

Patients and staff in impacted areas have been relocated, the alert said.

Hospital officials stated it is temporarily reducing the capacity of operating rooms for Oct. 13 and are rescheduling a portion of procedures as a safety precaution.

“Firefighters did outstanding work with this very challenging fire,” said Ann Arbor Fire Chief Mike Kennedy. “We have planned and trained for high-rise fires for the last 18 months and today all of that effort paid off. Our firefighters performed flawlessly.”

Multiple fire crews from the surrounding area assisted at the scene including the Ann Arbor Township Fire Department, Scio Township Fire Department, Pittsfield Township Fire Department, Superior Township Fire Department, Saline Area Fire Department and the Northfield Township Fire Department.

The University of Michigan Division of Safety and Security, Michigan Medicine security and staff, the Ann Arbor Police Department, HART Huron Valley, assisted at the scene as well.

Hospital/Care Facility, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Danville, KY – Sprinkler system activated for fire at nursing home

A fire in one of the back wings of Landmark of Danville Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Sunday led to evacuation of the building and seven total residents and employees transported to the hospital.

There were no life-threatening injuries, but the people transported had been subject to smoke inhalation, said Danville-Boyle County Emergency Management Director Mike Wilder. He said all the residents were evacuated with no major issues.

Danville Fire Department Chief Doug Simpson said the dispatch to a structural fire at 203 Bruce Court, the address of Landmark, came at 9:05 a.m. Sunday morning. A sprinkler in one of the back wings had gone off. “But the sprinkler system did do its job and knocked the fire down,” Simpson said. “There was just little flames when we got there, but most of the issues were dealing with smoke.”

He said the seven individuals transported were taken to the hospital via Emergency Management Services, and the fire department also received help from the Boyle County Fire Department, “Which we really appreciated.”

“All the first responders did a great job, worked as a team and the Landmark staff did a great job as well evacuating the residents,” Simpson said.

He said there was no structural damage, but there was a lot of smoke, and some damage was done to the origin of the fire area.

Wilder said when the call was first dispatched, he “cringed” because “It’s one of the horrors we have in the first responder business, something like that occurring,” like a fire at a nursing home, since it’s “such a task” to get everyone evacuated.

“It took me a little while to get myself together,” he said.

Luckily, though, everyone was evacuated safely, and he wanted to note that the there was also mutual aid from Garrard and Lincoln counties — one rescue unit from Garrard County and one from Lincoln County to help evacuate residents.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Marshfield, WI – Sprinkler system activated for fire at clinic; No injuries reported

Marshfield Fire and Rescue Department responded to a call at 1000 N Oak Ave in Marshfield on Saturday morning shortly before 8:30 am.

The general fire alarm dispatched the Standard Fire Response Unit (2 engines, 1 truck and 1 ambulance and a total of 8 personnel) to the Marshfield Clinic. While en route, dispatch informed crews that Clinic security had a water flow alarm on the ground level.

Upon arrival, fire crew searched the ground floor finding nothing remarkable. Then, additional information came in that the water flow alarm was coming from the 2nd floor at the Ben R. Lawton Center. As the crew arrived on the 2nd floor, they were met with mild smoke and the signs of a sprinkler system flowing water.

A sprinkler head was flowing water above a contained dryer used in the cleaning process of specimen trays in the lab. This sprinkler head flow was stopped by the fire crew responding to the call.

Once it was determined that the fire was out, the fire crew initiated the process of removing water from the structure and protecting property. Fire units remained on-scene for more than 3 hours.

As of a result of the fire, the room where the fire originated has heat and smoke damage. Additionally, water damage is present on the 2nd, 1st and basement levels. A preliminary estimate of $50,000 in damages was reported.

There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire call.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Lexington, KY – Sprinkler system activated for fire at cancer center; No injuries reported

Firefighters are investigating the cause of a small fire that set off some of the sprinklers in the UK Markey Cancer Center early Wednesday morning.

A small fire broke out at around 3 a.m. in the Comprehensive Breast Care Center located on the second floor of the Whitney-Hendrickson Building. This building is part of the UK Markey Cancer Center and faces Huguelet Drive.- Advertisement –

As designed, heat from the fire activated sprinklers, which produced water to fight the fire.

Firefighters said they didn’t see any flames or smoke from outside the building but did find two sprinklers had been activated on the second floor because of a small fire.

Firefighters put it out, shut down the sprinkler system and ventilated the building. No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Schedulers are contacting patients with appointments Wednesday to reschedule or redirect them.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Boone County, WV – Hospital sprinkler system contains fire; No injuries reported

A small fire broke out in Boone Memorial Hospital early Tuesday morning.

A press release from Boone Memorial Hospital says the fire started in an unoccupied room on the first floor.

The fire was quickly contained by the Hospital’s fire safety sprinkler protection system.

There were no injuries or evacuations involved in the fire. The cause is under investigation by the West Virginia Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Madison, Danville, and Van Volunteer Fire Departments responded to the scene.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Rossville, MD – Fire sprinklers extinguish utility room fire at medical center; No injuries reported

A fire in a utility room at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center was quickly extinguished, Baltimore County fire officials said.

Fire officials said firefighters were called around 3:09 p.m. for a fire on the third floor of the hospital in Rossville.

Fire officials said the hospital alarm system sounded and as firefighters were en route, the sprinkler system activated. Officials said firefighters found heavy smoke on the third floor and it took about 45 minutes to put out the fire.

“They were able to make quick extinguishment of the fire, the sprinklers were activated. They were able to contact that very quickly. They were working to shelter patients in place,” Baltimore County fire Capt. Len Stewart said.

Patients at the hospital were sheltered in place as fire crews worked on ventilating the facility. No injuries were reported, officials said.

“We had a fire in one of our inpatient units. It looks like it originated in one of our utility rooms, storage rooms. (I’m) delighted to say that the first responders did a magnificent job to put the fire out, patients were moved laterally as per our plans, no patients were hurt, no staff were injured, thank goodness. The fire’s out and we are cleaning up and looking to get back to full operations,” said Stuart Levine, president of MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center.

Levine told 11 News that the floor affected by the fire was where some COVID-19 patients were being treated. They have been moved to other areas at the hospital.

Firefighters said there was water damage on the second floor.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Rochester Hills, MI – Hospital sprinkler system contains fire on Thanksgiving; No injuries reported

Fire crews were dispatched Thursday morning to Ascension Providence Rochester Hospital on reports of a fire.

According to authorities, the call came in at about 8:45 a.m. and when fire crews arrived, they found smoke coming from the second floor of the building. Fortunately, the area that the fire was in was closed due to Thanksgiving.

Authorities said the hospital’s sprinkler system held the fire back until fire crews were able to extinguish the fire.

Rochester Hills Fire Department had help from fire crews from Waterford, Bloomfield Township, Troy, Oakland Township and Auburn Hills.

No one was injured during the fire.

The fire investigation will be handled by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Parking Garage

Fargo, ND – Parking garage fire sprinklers keep fire contained after vehicle catches on fire; No injuries reported

The Fargo Fire Department was able to contain a vehicle fire Friday at a downtown parking garage.

Around 12:45 p.m. the Fargo Fire Department responded to a report of a vehicle on fire inside the multi-level parking garage located on the 600 block of  2nd Ave. North.

The first two units arrived on the scene within 2 minutes of being dispatched and located a vehicle on fire on the fifth floor of the garage.  Crews worked to extinguish the fire with the help of the building’s sprinkler system that had two heads activate above the vehicle.

The sprinkler system helped keep the fire contained to the original vehicle, there were no injuries. The cause of the fire is still under investigation at this time.

Responders were delayed by a vehicle parked in front of a fire hydrant and one vehicle driving over a fire hose.

The Fargo Fire Department would like to remind the public that it is illegal to drive over a fire hose when it is stretched out on the street.  This causes damage to the hose and places crews relying on the hose in danger if it fails.  They also ask to refrain from parking in front of fire hydrants. It causes delays in establishing a water supply for fire suppression operations.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Rockland, ME – Fire sprinkler controls dryer fire at assisted living facility

Rockland’s fire chief said a fire that broke out Monday night at the Woodlands Memory Care facility shows the importance of a sprinkler and alarm system.

The fire at the Camden Street facility was one of two fire calls within five hours of each other early Sept. 29.

The first was at Woodlands, reported to the department at 1:21 a.m.

The caller reported a fire in one of the commercial dryers. Upon arrival, there was smoke coming from the laundry area in the rear of the building. The initial crew was able to rapidly determine the issue was contained to the laundry area and that the smoke and fire was not extending into the occupied portion of the facility, Chief Chris Whytock said.

The Woodlands staff moved all residents to their “shelter in place” areas.

The crew then made entry to the laundry and found a small fire in one of the gas-fired commercial dryers, which was being contained by the building sprinkler system. The fire was quickly extinguished and the sprinkler was shut down after determining the fire had not spread from the dryer. The smoke was then cleared from the affected portion of the building and all mutual aid units were sent back to their towns.

Rockland crews remained on scene for a short time removing water from the laundry room and restoring the building alarms systems.

The fire was determined to have been caused by oily cooking towels being in the dryer after washing had not removed all the oil

The chief said the on duty staff at the Woodlands did an excellent job rapidly notifying the fire department and moving their residents to pre-established safety areas.

The sprinkler system contained the fire to the dryer utilizing just one sprinkler head. This coupled with the fire alarm system releasing self-closing doors kept multiple barriers between the smoky fire area and the occupied section of the building just down the hall. Due to the staff, sprinklers, and alarm system no residents were displaced and the incident was concluded in less than one hour.