Crews were called to the Costco Member Services Center in the 1700 block of North Sixth Street at 4:30 a.m. A fire started in a cubicle in the building and spread to a 900-square-foot area, according to a fire department post on social media. The fire also activated multiple sprinkler heads in the building, firefighters said.
Investigators traced the cause of the fire to a malfunctioning power strip.
Nobody was injured in the fire, officials said.
When the first Lapeer truck arrived on scene firefighters found the sprinkler system had activated which contained the fire to the forklift. Firefighters advanced into the building and extinguished the fire without incident, said Lapeer Fire & Rescue Chief Mike Vogt.
“Damage was limited to the forklift, however smoke did fill a majority of the building. One employee was evaluated by Lapeer County EMS for possible smoke inhalation, but was not transported to the hospital.
“This incident is an excellent example of how important sprinkler systems are to businesses,” said Vogt. “The sprinkler system was effective at containing the fire, allowed the employees to exit the building in safe conditions, and limited overall damage to the business. We also are thankful that employees called 911 quickly. Early notification is also a critical step in persevering life and property.”
The fire was reported around 6:40 a.m. in a four-story building on McKellar Court off Pacific Center Boulevard called the Qualcomm Pacific Center Campus. When crews arrived, they didn’t see any smoke or fire showing from the outside the building but when they got inside, they found a fire that had been extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system.
After searching the building to check for any spread of the fire, crews worked to ensure the fire didn’t reignite. Just under 50 firefighters from San Diego and Chula Vista had responded to the fire.
No injuries were reported. No damage estimate was immediately available. A cause of the fire also wasn’t reported.
The building located just off the Central Expressway access road between Blackburn and Fitzhugh Ave was surrounded by emergency vehicles around 4:00 a.m.
Officials say the building’s automatic sprinkler system was activated after an unknown suspect threw an explosive device, a so-called molotov cocktail, through an exterior window.
Jason Evans with Dallas Fire says crews were able to have the flames completely extinguished in 20 minutes.
They’re still trying to figure out who the arsonist is, and what their motive was.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the fire as the building was empty due to the time of day it happened.
One firefighter was actually injured, but not by flames. Evans says the individual was hurt while mopping up afterwards and had to be taken to the hospital.
Firefighters were dispatched to the Goodwill of South Central Wisconsin Home Office on Friday around 12:45 for a report of a fire. Occupants were evacuating as firefighters arrived.
Crews found smoke at the back of the building where the dumpster and trash compactor were located inside. Officials said an automatic fire sprinkler inside the compactor room helped control the fire until firefighters were able to put it out.
According to a news release, firefighters had to remove the dumpster and its contents from the building before they could fully extinguish the blaze. Pellitteri Waste Sytsems responded to pull the dumpster from the building so firefighters could douse the remaining flames.
Damages are estimated to be $500.
No one was injured and the building was not impacted.
Firefighters responded to a fire in the back of a unit at 1950 Harvey Avenue at 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, activating a sprinkler as they arrived.
The sprinklers were able to contain the fire to the rear office area but did cause some water damage.
Three fire engines, a rescue unit and a command vehicle, as well as the RCMP, responded to the fire.
The Kelowna Fire Department has deemed the fire “accidental in nature,” but did not provide any further details as to what sparked the blaze.
According to Hutchinson Fire Chief Mike Schumann, a fire broke out in one of the units at the city-owned Enterprise Center commercial business complex at 1164 Benjamin Ave. S.E. A utility cart with flammable paint supplies on it ignited in the building at approximately 6:45 p.m.
The fire activated a sprinkler head, which contained the fire until firefighters arrived and were able to extinguish and set up ventilation to clear out the smoke. Firefighters also assisted with removing water on the floor and salvaging other items.
Schumann said it was a great example of how valuable sprinkler systems can be.
“If it were not for the early warning and activation of the automatic fire sprinkler system, this could easily have been a multimillion dollar loss with a catastrophic impact on the operation of multiple local businesses.”
According to Franklin Fire Investigator Lt. Bill Almon, the fire started around 6:30 a.m. in a first-floor office at 127 International Dr. A single fire sprinkler head activated and controlled the fire prior to the Franklin Fire Department’s arrival, protecting the 142,000-square-foot building, which includes IRS offices.
Upon arrival, firefighters completed extinguishment and assisted with the sprinkler system, clean-up and smoke removal.
Almon said resistance heating created by a piece of furniture placed on an extension cord that was powering a printer allowed heat to build up and appeared to have ignited the fire.
He estimated fire and water damage at $20,000.
He was picking up the pieces of charred mementos that survived the firebomb less then 12 hours prior.
He held up an old photo of himself in his army uniform from basic training more than two decades earlier, the edges charred.
“It’s one of the few pictures I have leftover from those days. I don’t have many of these. It means a lot to me,” he said, holding the partially burned photograph.
The Army veteran said, his military training kicked in as soon as the firebomb exploded through his office door just before 3 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 22.
“I think my army training is what saved me today. That’s the truth,” Cole said, matter-of-factly.
Cole said, he was working late and stopped to take a break when he heard a crackling noise outside. He said, it sounded like fire so he stood up to check it out.
“I see the crackling through the door. I see the fire, the flames. I see an individual that’s short through the crack in the door,” Cole said. “Next thing I know, I hear the flame, it hits the door and it goes through. lt hits the wall and flame shot off the wall.”
He said, the flames spread to the couch.
“So I hurried up, got my army gear, and put out the fire to the couch. I came back over here and start putting the fire out,” Cole explained as he pointed to the wall above his desk.
That is when the sprinkler system kicked on, helping to put out the fire and minimizing the damage to his office.
“I had a lot of past pictures of my family on the wall so some of that got burnt off. So there’s water damage, computer damage, furniture damage and the carpets of course, it’s a lot of water to drain out.”
But he knows things could have been much worse. Police found evidence from a gasoline bomb once they arrived.
“It was a brick metal Molotov Cocktail bottle. The bottle they used, the Coke bottle, was found here (as he pointed to his desk). It was a metal pipe they used to project it through (the door). We found evidence outside — two pieces of evidence outside,” he said.
Cole got emotional as he talked about the attack he believes may have been racially motivated.
“This was an attack on me as a soldier, as a part-time recruiter, as a veteran, as a father. And again, if this can happen to me here, this can happen to anyone… I don’t hate the person who did this, but I want the world to see this. I wasn’t doing anything wrong but this is our country. This is where it’s at,” Cole said, choking back tears.
Cole said, he spoke to the Honolulu Police Department and the FBI. The investigation is ongoing, according to police.
Some 48 Cincinnati firefighters responded to the tower at 425 Walnut St. after a fire alarm went off shortly before 10 p.m., the department said in a press release.
The first fire companies to arrive asked dispatch to send a full high-rise complement of firefighters after determining that the alarm was sounding on the eighth floor and that smoke was visible there, the release said.
Firefighters subsequently discovered a small fire in one office that was mostly contained by the sprinkler system.
“The remaining fire was extinguished with a water can,” the release said.
Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.
Operating smoke detectors were in place.
The release said there was fire damage to the office, smoke damage to the eighth and ninth floors, minor water damage to the seventh floor and heavy water damage to the eighth floor.
