Category Archives: Other Business

Henderson, KY – Fire during AA meeting contained by building’s sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A fire broke out an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting place during a session Monday afternoon. No one was injured.  Henderson Fire Chief Scott Foreman said firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 401 Hoffman Drive around 12:40 p.m.  “It started in the suite where the AA meetings are held,” he said. “We understand there was a meeting in progress, but everyone got out safely.”

Foreman said the cause of the fire is unknown at this time.  “The fire was contained by the building’s sprinkler system and flames were contained to the AA suite,” he said. “There were some flames visible at one time.”  Foreman said there is smoke and water damage throughout several of the businesses contained in that building.

Schenectady, NY – Casino kitchen fire contained with help from sprinkler system; Operations resume quickly

Rivers Casino & Resort was evacuated for about an hour Sunday afternoon after a small kitchen fire.  Schenectady fire crews responded about 1:30 p.m. after a cooking fire at Mian restaurant set off the casino’s alarms and sprinkler systems, according to Deputy Fire Chief Don Mareno.  The casino was evacuated and patrons were able to return about 2:25 p.m. “Operations are normal at Rivers Casino today, following a minor kitchen fire that was quickly resolved,” a Rivers spokesman said in an email.

New York, NY – High rise fire near Grand Central Station extinguished by sprinkler system

As reported by CBS 2 New York – Crowds gathered to observe firefighters tackle a fire in a high-rise building at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. The fire broke out on the mezzanine level of the 31-story Graybar Building next to the Grand Central Terminal at around 9:15 a.m. Wednesday morning. The blaze grew to two alarms, before the sprinkler system extinguished the flames a short time later.

Chief Roger Sackowich said the fire started in an electrical supply room. “All the wiring and boxes and things that were in that room – so you had a very strong, acidy smell due to the PVC coating of the electrical wires. And that — really the smoke was very difficult to breathe,” he said.

Six people were checked out after complaining of breathing problems. Three of them were taken to a hospital. The fire prompted some evacuations of the building and heavy smoke. The fire prompted some evacuations of the building and heavy smoke. “The smoke was thick and it smelled a little, like, electrical, someone mentioned it smelled like it was electrical, it didn’t smell good,” Harry Borque said.

“We left. We had to walk down through the smoke. It was all very orderly, very organized,” said a woman named Beth. “It was thick — you had to walk through thick smoke… I covered my mouth.” Workers were allowed back into their offices after about an hour and a half. Grand Central Terminal was not impacted.

Bowling Green, OH – Electrical fire at business put out by sprinkler system; No injuries and operations not impacted

Middleton Township, Bowling Green and Troy Township fire departments responded to a report of smoke in a building at Principle Business Enterprises, 20189 Pine Lake Road, around 9:30 a.m. Friday.   The smoke was reportedly coming from Building B on the PBE campus. According to Middleton Township Fire Chief Steve Asmus, smoke was emanating from a bad fixture, which triggered the sprinkler system, putting the fire out. Fire crews dealt with some hotspots and smoldering product in cardboard boxes, which they extinguished. No injuries were reported.

A statement issued by Principle Business Enterprises co-CEO Charles A. Stocking said the small fire occurred as a result of an “electrical fluke” but it was quickly extinguished by PBE’s sprinkler system. “There were no injuries and the building was not impacted by the event, but the use of water has an effect on packaged ‘super absorbent products,’ which were in the affected area. PBE’s team and insurers are working together to clean up the impacted area.

“We are most grateful for the rapid response of the Dunbridge and other area fire crews. They were terrific,” the statement read. Stocking also noted the company is “experiencing significant growth and expects no interruption in scheduled operations or work schedules of its associates.

Camarillo, CA – Sprinklers assist firefighters in controlling fire at electrical parts supplier

A Camarillo business is recovering after a brief fire Friday night. According to Engineer Steve Swindle with the Ventura County Fire Department, the blaze was reported Nov. 17 at electronic parts supplier Advanced Motion Controls, 3805 Calle Tecate. Firefighters arrived around 6:45 p.m. and the fire was out in 30 minutes, Swindle said. Dan Mayer, vice president of finance at AMC, said the fire’s cause is under investigation but it looks to be an electrical fire that damaged manufacturing equipment. Swindle said the department helped remove smoke and clean up water from the sprinkler system as well. “They had already knocked the fire down pretty quickly, but it was a large concrete building full of smoke,” Swindle said.

East Northport, NY – Office building fire caused by oil soaked rags contained with help from sprinkler system

Firefighters responded to a fire alarm that went off in an office building that was undergoing renovations last Wednesday morning in East Northport. East Northport firefighters responded to Larkfield Plaza, located on the 200-block of Larkfield Road, for the report of smoke coming from a business that led to fire sprinkler activation at 7 a.m. Upon fire crew arrival, the fire had been extinguished by the fire sprinkler system. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Town of Huntington Fire Marshall’s Office. Fire officials, however, believe the fire started in a plastic container filled with rags soaked in wood staining chemicals that had been used during the renovations. No injuries were reported. About 25 fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene with three engines, two ambulances and a paramedic unit. A Tower Ladder from the Northport Volunteer Fire Department was also called to the scene for assistance.

Knoxville, TN – Fire in downtown office building held at bay by sprinkler system

A downtown Knoxville building caught fire Tuesday morning off Market Street.Fire crews said people reported smoke coming from the building at 713 Market Street around 6:30 a.m. The building houses a few law offices and no one was inside the building at the time of the fire. According to the Knoxville Fire Department, first responders found the fire in a second story wall. The fire was quickly put out and crews are unsure how it started as of right now. Firefighters said the sprinkler system held the fire at bay until they could arrive. The building suffered significant water damage.

Temecula, CA – Electrical fire at dance studio controlled by sprinkler system

A Temecula dance studio was damaged today when an electrical fire triggered an automated sprinkler system that poured water onto the blaze and everywhere else.  The fire was reported at 4:30 a.m. in the 28000 block of Felix Valdez Avenue, just off of Rancho California Road, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

An agency spokeswoman said six engine crews and a truck company, numbering 25 personnel, arrived within minutes and encountered smoke on the second floor of the two-story structure and went into attack mode.  On entering the 10,000-square-foot building, crews realized the fire-extinguishing sprinkler system was engaged, causing water to flow from the upper floor to the ground floor, according to the fire department.

The system was eventually shut off but caused an estimated $20,000 in damage, departmental officials said.  The sprinklers were credited with dousing the flames, which broke out as a result of faulty wiring in a bathroom fan, according to the agency.

Madison, WI – Sprinkler system helps halt laboratory fire; No injuries reported

A spark from within a work station ignited flammable chemicals in a Madison laboratory Sunday, according to officials.

The fire at Covance Laboratories on Kinsman Boulevard was big enough to trigger the lab’s automatic sprinkler system. In addition to the lab’s automatic fire sprinkler system, a security guard also used a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze, according to a report from the Madison Fire Department. 

When the MFD arrived, the fire was already out. There were no injuries, officials said. 

The MFD’s Hazardous Incident Team also responded to the lab to further investigate the scene and neutralize any remaining chemical hazards, according to the report. 

Kansas City, MO – Sprinkler system extinguishes church arson fire set by racist vandal

Someone broke into a predominantly black church in south Kansas City early Sunday morning, starting a small fire and leaving the front doors and windows defaced with racist graffiti, according to law enforcement officials.  Members of Concord Fortress of Hope Church arrived in the morning to see the spray-painted graffiti, which included an ethnic slur directed at black people, the letters “KKK” and what appeared to be an attempt at making a swastika.

Inside the church, police found that someone had entered the building, broke into a vending machine and the church’s financial office, and lit a chair on fire.  The fire caused minimal damage before being extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system, according to John Ham, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The ATF, which has jurisdiction over fires at houses of worship, is investigating the fire along with the Kansas City Police Department’s bomb and arson unit and investigators with the Kansas City Fire Department.  Kansas City Councilman Quinton Lucas tweeted out two photos of the graffiti, writing “Fools think they’re gonna keep us from worshiping this morning.

Lucas also tweeted out a photo of the services saying, “Racist Vandals and arsonists not slowing down 8 a.m. service @concordhope church.”

Kansas City police were called to the church shortly before 7 a.m. Federal investigators think the break-in occurred between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. and that whoever committed the break-in also made the graffiti.

If the investigation shows that the vandalism of the church was a hate crime, the FBI will get involved, said Ham, the ATF spokesman. But, he said, the hate crime designation depends on the motive and the true motive behind the damage to the church is unclear.

The fire was very small and did not appear likely to cause much damage, Ham said. Investigators suspect the incident began as a break-in, and the fire could have been meant to cover that up.

“To our fire investigators that are on the scene, it looks to us like a fire that somebody started sort of with what they had available to cover up perhaps the break-in,” Ham said. “It did not really have much to work with from a fire perspective. The sprinkler system in the office where it was set did its job, knocked the fire out very, very quickly.”

More damage was caused by water from the sprinkler system.

Fires at places of worship happen less frequently than they used to, Ham said, but have historically posed a potent threat because churches are often the focal point of a community.

“An attack on a church or an attack on a congregation is really an attack on everyone,” Ham said.

Investigators have not identified any suspects and are hoping to find surveillance video that could help. However, it’s unclear if all the security cameras in the church were working properly at the time of the break-in.

The ATF is offering a $5,000 reward for information about the incident. Anyone with information can call the ATF at 1-888-283-3473.

Concord Fortress of Hope Church is at 11050 Longview Parkway.

“It’s kind of a remote area, so if you were driving by early this morning or late last night and you saw something happening here, it probably wasn’t supposed to be,” Ham said. “Every little piece of information helps us.”

In a phone interview later, Councilman Lucas said he saw the graffiti as he arrived to attend services Sunday.

“It’s heartbreaking. It’s a little disappointing to see something liked that in 2017. Folks should be able to come and worship without that sort of concern,” Lucas said. “We’ll keep praying and stay hopeful that this is the last time we have to see something like this with this church and that nobody else has to deal with it.”

Lucas said Pastor Ronald Lindsay said it well during the service when he told church members that they were not letting something negative define them.

“It ended up being an absolutely beautiful service,” Lucas said. “It reminded us how God exists in chaos and how we will basically continue on with the mission of the church.”

The church was founded in February 1987 when the Palestine Missionary Baptist Church of Jesus Christ voted for Concord Missionary Baptist Church of Jesus Christ to become an official organized church. The Rev. Ronald R. Lindsay was installed as the pastor, according to the church’s website.

After beginning at the YMCA at 63rd Street and Wornall Road, the church moved south to 107th Street in the Ruskin/Hickman Mills area. In 2006, the growing congregation moved to its current location.