Category Archives: Other Business

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Holland, MI – Laboratory fire mostly extinguished by sprinkler system; Damage minimized

** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – Fire Dept Reported**   The Fire occurred the morning of March 2 at a lab / testing facility on 48th street.   The fire occurred after some equipment being tested failed.  Two sprinkler heads activated as a result and the fire was 95% extinguished when firefighters arrived.

A small plastic ladder near the equipment being tested caught fire and was in an angle that the sprinkler pattern could not get to. The remaining fire was extinguished by fire crews with a water extinguisher.  Although this building is type 2 construction, the sprinklers saved this building from thousands in fire damage.

Other Business

St. Cloud, MN – Sprinkler system controls fire at laundry business until crews arrive

The St. Cloud Fire Department responded to a fire call at Ameripride early Friday morning.  A fire was found in a pile of laundry. The fire was being controlled by the fire sprinkler system when crews arrived.

A fire suppression systems alerted the department just after midnight at the textile rental services and supply company at 6500 Sauk View Drive, Battalion Chief Jerry Raymond said.  Crews ventilated smoke from the building and extinguished the fire.

Damage is estimated to be about $2,000 for the pile of linen and the smoke that filled the building. No one was in the building at the time and there were no injuries.  The cause was determined to be accidental from overheating of a pile of cloths, according to the fire department.  Crews were on the scene for about an hour and a half.

Other Business

Lexington, KY – Electrical fire in parking garage activates sprinkler system; No injuries or structural damage reported

The government center at 200 East Main Street in downtown Lexington was closed Monday because of an electrical fire late Sunday night in an adjoining parking garage. The parking garage sprinkler system, which was triggered by the fire, helped to contain the blaze which blaze broke out about 11:30 p.m. Sunday in some wiring inside the parking garage.

Firefighters had to turn off electricity in the parking garage, which also caused parts of the government center to lose power, city officials said. With the government building closed, some city employees will not work Monday, said Susan Straub, Mayor Jim Gray’s spokeswoman. The garage is between the Kentucky Theatre and the government building.

Initial indications suggest that the parking garage sustained no structural damage, Straub said. The cause remains unknown, Straub said. Earlier Monday, officials said electrical current arced, and some insulation caught fire. The fire was quickly put out once electrical power in the garage was turned off, fire officials said.

Other Business

Bend, OR – Sprinkler system keeps fire at welding shop from spreading

A fire in a southeast Bend industrial park Thursday night caused $30,000 damage to a welding shop, but likely would have been far more severe and spread to adjoining businesses if a sprinkler system and fire alarm hadn’t kicked in, officials said. 

Firefighters responded around 9:40 p.m. to a fire alarm sounding at Wilson Warehouses, a multi-tenant industrial complex at 1310 SE Armour Road, said Deputy Fire Marshal Cindy Kettering.  They arrived to find the fire in a welding shop, confined to a single tenant in Suites 13 and 14 of the building. Losses were estimated at $15,000 to the building and $15,000 to the contents.

The fire was found to be accidental in nature, Kettering said later Friday, but an exact cause could not be determined.  The fire official said damage to the business “would have been far more severe were it not for the fact that the building is equipped with a full fire sprinkler system,” which “held the fire in check until fire crews arrived” and finished putting it out.

The sprinkler head activation also triggered the fire alarm, leading to a quicker dispatch of crews, Kettering said, noting that having occurred at night, it could have been “a considerable amount of time before the fire was discovered.”

“Without a doubt, working fire sprinkler systems and fire alarm systems saved this business,” she said.

Other Business

Clinton, MO – Sprinklers contain fire at laundry business to area of origin

Office Building, Other Business

Yuma, AZ – Arson fire at office building mostly extinguished by sprinkler system

A fire at a building Thursday afternoon that had been mostly extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system was determined to have been intentionally set. According to Yuma Fire Department spokesman Mike Erfert, shortly after 1:00 p.m., smoke was reported coming from an office in the Mission Valley Plaza, located at 3970 West 24th Street. Once on scene, firefighters found light smoke coming from a vacant office space inside the building.

 Erfert said the building’s fire sprinkler system, which had been exposed to the heat, had activated, containing and mostly extinguishing the fire by the time firefighters had arrived. Erfert said firefighters ensured the fire was out and had not spread to adjoining areas of the building.

Sgt. Leanne Worthen, of the Yuma Police Department, said because the fire appeared to have been in intentionally set, detectives were called to scene, and are investigating the fire as an arson. Given this was the fourth fire in as many days, Erfert wanted to stress the importance of fire sprinkler systems, saying they 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 property and endanger those nearby. Contrary to many Hollywood portrayals, only sprinkler heads directly exposed to the heat activate, not those in the rest of the room, building, or complex.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Eureka, CA – Sprinkler system extinguishes early morning arson fire at Wharfinger Building

Humboldt Bay Fire responded to multiple arson fires in the early morning hours of today and Wednesday. There were a total of six fires reported to fire officials. The most significant fire was at the city of Eureka Wharfinger Building. The fire was large enough to activate the sprinkler system which extinguished the fire. Humboldt Bay Fire was notified via the activation of the sprinkler alarm system. Damage to the facility was minimal as the sprinkler system functioned properly and prevented the fire from spreading to the structure.

Other Business, Place of Worship

Melbourne, FL – Sprinklers help limit damage in church arson fire

On a day when students from her congregation were to learn about slain civil rights activists Harry and Harriette V. Moore, Bishop Jacquelyn Gordon found herself awakened by a phone call informing her that an arsonist set a small fire in her church and scrawled a swastika on a nearby wall.

“To wake up to a call at 3:30 a.m. and find this, it’s mind-blowing,” said Gordon, standing near the blackened ruin of several chairs and furniture in one of the storage compartments at the New Shiloh Christian Center in Melbourne.

The blaze, which left behind $5,000 in damages, set off an alarm about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. Sprinklers were activated, which Gordon credits with keeping the fire from spreading to the nearby electrical room.

The main sanctuary, housed in the same 125,000-square-foot building, was not affected by smoke or fire. Melbourne firefighters quickly contained the fire and discovered evidence of arson.

Melbourne police did not immediately return calls about the case and whether it would be investigated as a possible hate crime. Police report that the vandals also broke into the electrical room, burning through locks and kicking in doors.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Glen Echo Park, MD – Fire in art studio at historic property extinguished by sprinkler system

An electrical fire in an art studio and classroom space at historic Glen Echo Park has that part of the facility closed on Friday.

The fire was caused by an electrical problem related to a thermostat installed in the wall, according to MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer. Firefighers were called to the scene at about 3:15 a.m. Friday.

It happened in the Park’s Yellow Barn Studio.  Piringer said a sprinkler system put out the fire and damage was valued at less than $10,000.

Glen Echo Park said later that Friday morning that all classes in the Yellow Barn Studio are canceled today. The SilverWorks studio is also closed as Park officials wait until power is restored to the buildings.