Category Archives: Apartment Building

Apartment Building, Residential

Sioux City, IA – Apartment bedroom fire extinguished by single sprinkler

An apartment sprinkler was able to extinguish a small fire in a Sioux City apartment complex Friday night prior to the arrival of firefighters, officials say. According to a Sioux City Fire Rescue news release, firefighters responded to an alarm at Prestwick Apartments, 4230 Hickory Lane, shortly before 10 p.m. Friday.

After investigating, firefighters located a single sprinkler head spraying water in a bedroom in one of the apartments.  Firefighters stopped the water and found remains of a small fire that had occurred on the dresser, the release said.  The occupant of the apartment was not home.

Upon investigation, the firefighters traced the source of the fire to an unattended candle. Damage was limited to the top of the dresser and a television near the candle, the release said.  Officials say sprinklers in buildings significantly reduce fire loss and deaths.

Apartment Building, Residential High Rise

Danville, VA – High rise apartment fire put out by sprinkler system; No injuries

Two Danville House apartments were damaged in a Saturday afternoon fire blamed on unattended cooking. The Danville Fire Department responded to the call on the eighth floor in apartment No. 802 at 600 Main St. at about 1:45 p.m., according to a news release.

A fire in the kitchen had been extinguished by a sprinkler system but filled the apartment with smoke. “After confirming there was no additional fire, the engine company stopped the flow of water from the sprinkler head,” Battalion Chief Brian K. Alderson said in the release. “Water was running down into apartments on the seventh floor.”

Crews redirected water out a window and covered furniture and other valuables with salvage covers, Alderson said. Power to the affected apartments also was turned off. Firefighters stayed on scene until about 340 p.m. There were no injuries.

The apartment on the eighth floor received smoke, heat and water damage, and another apartment on the seventh floor received water damage. The Danville chapter of the American Red Cross is helping one occupant and her pet.

Another occupant will stay with family. “All other tenants were allowed to return to their respective apartments,” Alderson said.  The cause of the fire was unattended cooking, according to the release.

“The DFD reminds everyone to stay alert and in the kitchen when cooking,” Alderson said. “The sprinkler system at the Danville House kept this fire from becoming a large fire that would have displaced many residents.”

Apartment Building, Residential

Conroe, TX – Apartment kitchen fire extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries

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** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED**
The City of Conroe Fire Department was notified of an apartment fire at 500 Hickerson St. near N Frazier St. (Hollow Creek Apartments) at approximately 10:34 AM on June 22, 2016. Conroe Firefighters arrived at approximately 10:38 AM and discovered that there had been a fire in the kitchen of one of the apartment units which activated two sprinkler heads and extinguished the fire. There were no reported injuries to firefighters or occupants of the building.  Fire damage was confined to the kitchen area.  Water damage was confined to the apartment of origin.  The cause of the fire was unattended cooking and was determined to be unintentional.

For the second time in one week within the City of Conroe, the importance of properly installed and maintained automatic fire sprinkler systems in residential occupancies has been demonstrated. It is likely that the automatic fire sprinkler system saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and property loss to the building’s owners and occupants.  Further, no adjacent occupants were displaced and possible injuries and deaths to citizens and firefighters were prevented.

Automatic fire sprinkler systems have over 100 years of proven performance protecting life and property. The Conroe Fire Department would like to remind the public that unattended cooking is the leading cause of residential fires in Conroe, and throughout the United States, each year.  Being mindful while you cook, however, can go a long way toward helping to prevent these fires:

**Keep an eye on what you fry
**Be alert when cooking
**Keep things that can catch fire away from the cooking area

Apartment Building, Residential

Plymouth Meeting, PA – Sprinkler system credited with saving life and property in apartment fire

An accidental fire at the Parc Apartments on Plymouth Road Friday morning caused fire and water damage to one apartment and water damage to an additional nine to 10 apartments.

“The husband and wife living in the third-floor apartment tried to put out the fire in the kitchen,” said Andrew Mount, the Plymouth fire marshal. “They pulled the fire alarm in Building 5000 and evacuated with other residents of the building. The sprinkler system in the apartment had extinguished the fire by the time the fire companies arrived.”

The Harmonville and Plymouth fire companies were the first fire companies to respond to the 8:46 a.m. fire, Mount said. The Conshohocken Fire Company No. 2, Lincoln, Wissahickon and Barren Hill fire companies also responded to the fire along with Plymouth Ambulance.

“The sprinkler system most certainly saved a life and it minimized the damage to the building,” Mount said. “If we didn’t have a sprinkler system in the building firefighters could still be fighting this fire.”

There were no injuries reported.

Mount said that the Parc Apartments management has hired a restoration company to clean up water damage in the second-floor apartments. He said the company will return later to make permanent repairs as well.

“Someone might be critical of the water damage,” Mount said, “but there is less fire damage and less water damage compared to the amount of water the firefighters would use to put out the same fire.”

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Battle Creek, MI – Kitchen fire at senior apartment complex controlled with help from sprinkler system

NORTH POINTE WOODS FIRE: Damage was estimated at $20,000 after a fire at North Pointe Woods at 700 North Ave. Battle Creek firefighters were called at 6:43 a.m. Monday, the city reported in a news release on Thursday. Firefighters said the fire began on the stove when a stove burner was left on. The fire activated the sprinkler system. A second-floor apartment was damaged with smoke and water and a first floor apartment below had water damage. A hallway on the first floor also filled with water. Residents remained in their apartments as firefighters used ventilators to remove smoke from the hallways.

Apartment Building, Residential

Brockton, MA – Apartment kitchen fire is kept from spreading thanks to sprinkler system

A kitchen fire displaced 11 residents of a Brockton home Wednesday night. The Brockton Fire Department responded to 18 N. Arlington St. about 8:16 p.m. for a report of a grease fire on the stove in an apartment in the building.  The fire extended to the kitchen cabinets and into the wall, Brockton Fire Deputy Chief Mark Baker said.  A sprinkler went off in the building, which helped to prevent the fire from spreading further.

Ladder 1 responded and put out the flames with a hose. The building sustained about $50,000 worth of heat, smoke and water damage, Baker said.  The home’s 11 residents were displaced and were assisted by the Red Cross in being placed in other properties owned by the landlord.

Apartment Building, Residential

Chesterfield, VA – Early morning apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system

A sprinkler system is being credited with quickly extinguishing a fire early Wednesday at an apartment building in Chesterfield.  A fire was reported about 2:30 a.m. on the balcony of a third-floor apartment in the 4500 block of Valley Crest Drive, but the building’s sprinkler system extinguished the blaze before firefighters arrived, said Lt. Jason Elmore of Chesterfield County Fire and EMS.

The fire was caused by a discarded cigarette, Elmore said. Damage was limited to a section of siding on the building. No one was injured, but the apartment building was evacuated while firefighters investigated the incident.

Apartment Building, Residential High Rise

Macon, GA – Arson fire at high-rise apartments contained with help from sprinkler system

Fire alarms and sprinklers went off again Monday morning at St. Paul Apartments, a high-rise at 1330 Forsyth St. plagued by recent arsons.  Macon-Bibb County fire investigator Sgt. Steve Wesson said several fires have been reported at the building in the past three or four weeks. 

“A resident was setting something on fire and throwing it down the trash chute, causing the Dumpster to catch on fire,” Wesson said before leaving the apartments Monday morning.

About 5:30 a.m., Macon-Bibb firefighters responded to a small fire in room 904, a vacant apartment that was being used for storage, Macon-Bibb fire investigator Lt. Ben Gleaton said.

The room had been burglarized, some tools stolen and a fire set, Wesson said.  “I hope you get whoever. This is crazy,” fourth-floor resident Brigitte Gramke told the investigators as she walked her dog outside the brick building near downtown Macon. “It’s really bad.”

A Bibb County deputy arrested Robert Walter Hutchens, 75, who lives in room 901 at St. Paul Apartments.  Hutchens was charged with burglary, according to Bibb County jail records, and stolen tools were recovered.

Additional charges are pending if Hutchens is found responsible for the fire.  The sprinkler system caused water damage in some of the building, Gleaton said.

“It has to cost a fortune and usually it’s arson,” Gramke said of the multiple fires.  The St. Paul Apartments manager declined to comment Monday morning.

Apartment Building, Residential

Wilmington, NC – Apartment kitchen fire extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

The Wilmington Fire Department was called to the 1000 block of Thomas C Jervay Place Sunday afternoon after receiving a water flow alarm. When firefighters got to the scene just after 1 p.m. they realized an unattended pot of oil had started a kitchen fire.

No one was home when the fire started, but the sprinkler head in the kitchen activated and extinguished the fire. 

“This was an example of home sprinklers doing a great job of keeping a fire from destroying the entire property and saving lives, since this was a multifamily apartment building,” said Public Information Officer David Hines in a statement.

He said the fire was contained to the stove top and only caused minor damage to the hood and cabinets. The damage was estimated to have cost around $3,000 for fire, smoke and water damage from the sprinkler activation.  No injuries were reported.

 

Apartment Building, Residential

Des Moines, IA – Sprinklers help knock down flames when fire breaks out in apartments above pizza parlor

No injuries were reported after a fire forced the evacuation Wednesday night of the Elliott Apartments above Fong’s Pizza on Fourth Street downtown.

Captain Mark Dooley of the Des Moines Fire Department said crews arrived around 10:30 p.m. to smoke and flames on the second floor of the six-story building and launched an “aggressive interior attack.”

“The flames were knocked down some with the activated sprinkler system,” Dooley said, adding that it made the firefighters’ job a lot easier.

Almost all of the residents were home at the time fire crews responded and all were evacuated by 11 p.m.

At 12:15 a.m. Thursday, Dooley said crews were no longer actively working to put the fire out but were instead checking the building to make sure the fire didn’t spread.

The heat was what was causing the most concern, Dooley said. When the fire started around 10:30 p.m., it was approximately 84 degrees in downtown Des Moines, according to the National Weather Service.

“There are medic units here just for the care of the firefighters,” Dooley said. They brought in extra medical crews and supplies solely to assist the roughly 100 firefighters working inside the complex, making sure to check their temperatures and heart rates.

No cause for the fire has been identified and the investigation continues.

Dooley said Polk County’s emergency response teams helped residents find a place to stay for the night.

Fourth Street, Walnut Street and parts of Court Avenue were reopened in time for Thursday morning traffic.

Joe Swift, a resident on the fourth floor, said he was out of the building minutes after the fire alarm went off. He said the smoke got very thick in the stairwell when he reached the second floor, making it difficult to see. He commended the men and women of the Des Moines Fire Department, who were knocking on doors and assisting residents out of the building.

“These guys do a great job, and the ladies too,” Swift said. “In old buildings like this, underneath all that carpeting is all wood. There’s lots to catch on to.”

On Twitter, Fong’s promised to repay swift work by the fire department with free pizza.