Category Archives: Apartment Building

Damage minimized in apartment fire thanks to sprinkler system (Bismarck, ND)

Bismarck Fire Department Battalion Chief Jeff Holte reported that his crew was alerted to a fire at an apartment building at 2:45 PM on Wednesday, August 20. When the firefighters arrived to the scene, people were evacuating from the building. The fire, which began when a tenant inadvertently turned on a stove top while a box was on top of it, was suppressed by the building’s fire sprinkler.

“That’s what saved the whole building was the sprinkler system,” Holte said.

No one was in the unit at the time of the fire, and all occupants of the building evacuated safely.

Apartment fire in kitchen extiguished by fire sprinkler (Lebanon, OR)

At 9:42 pm on Aug. 19 Lebanon Fire District crews responded to an apartment fire at 142 E. Elmore Street.  Upon arrival they found the building was being evacuated and that alarms were sounding that a sprinkler in the third floor apartment had been activated and light smoke was coming from the apartment. The cause of the fire was determined to be a pot of cooking oil that was left on the stove, according to the release.  A sprinkler head extinguished the fire. There were no injuries.

Sprinklers put out kitchen fire in high-rise hotel and apartment complex (Rochester, MN)

The fire happened at the Broadway Residence Inn and Suites in downtown Rochester. People living there said they could smell smoke on the fourteenth floor. When fire crews got there, the alarm and sprinkler systems were already activated. The fire came from a kitchen in one of the apartments but was put out by sprinklers. No one was in the unit at that time.

Damage minimized at apartment thanks to fire sprinkler system (Charleston, SC)

A single fire sprinkler halted a fire which began in the kitchen of an apartment unit on Friday afternoon. The fire, which was accidental, began on the stove when a knob was was left in the “on” position. Firefighters report that if the sprinkler had not been present, the damage could have been much worse. No one was injured, according to reports.

Sprinkler system controls apartment fire cause by smoking materials (Madison, WI)

The fire department responded to a report of a structure fire in a two-story multiple-family structure around 9:50 a.m.  When crews went into the building they found that the fire was extinguished and under control with one sprinkler head activated closest to the fire, officials said.  Officials said the occupant of the apartment was not home at the time of the fire.  The fire was caused by careless use of smoking materials, investigators said. The resident said he dumped recently-used smoking materials into a wicker basket used for trash before he left the apartment.  The wicker trash basket and a stuffed chair caught fire.  

Fire sprinkler system proves worth in apartment kitchen fire (Des Moines, IA)

A sprinkler system saved a Des Moines apartment from further damage after a fire started in the unit’s kitchen, officials said.  A fire had started while one of the occupants was cooking, officials said. 
Fire officials called the incident a “perfect example of how the fire protection systems required in these residential structures can save lives and property.”