Category Archives: Apartment Building

Orange, CA – Overnight high-rise apartment fire suppressed by sprinklers; potential disaster averted

(Blog Note: Please let us know what you think of this journalist’s focus on water damage rather than the lives and property saved by the sprinkler system in this overnight, high-rise fire).   Orange police and fire officials responded around 12:15 a.m. to reports of a structure fire at the Community Garden Towers in the 4000 block of West Garden Grove Boulevard, and found smoke coming from the fourth floor, officials said.

Authorities found a mattress on fire on the floor and the flames activated the sprinkler system in the building. Authorities said the building was evacuated and electricity may have been briefly turned off, but residents were able to re-enter the building shortly after the fire was extinguished.

Orange police initially detained a man who lives in the unit where the fire started on suspicion that he may have intentionally started it, Deputy Fire Marshal Casey Fieldhouse said.

But he was later released and not arrested, police Sgt. Phil McMullin.  Three people were displaced due to the damage and were assisted by local Red Cross officials. Authorities did not initially release the cause of the fire or damage estimates.

Hilton Head, SC – Port Royal apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Interior sprinklers extinguished a fire in a unit at Laurel Hill Apartments in Port Royal Saturday, likely preventing the fire from spreading, Beaufort Fire Chief Sammy Negron said.

However, damage from the fire, smoke and water forced the four apartment residents out of the unit. The local Red Cross is providing assistance.

At about 2:30 Saturday afternoon, firefighters from the Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department responded to a fire call at 1640 Ribaut Road, the Laurel Hill Apartments. Upon arrival, firefighters found the fire limited to one apartment unit.

“The building’s sprinkler system worked as it is supposed to and extinguished this fire before it had a chance go grow and spread,” Negron said. “Properly installed and maintained, these types of automated fire suppression systems save lives and property, and we saw that at this apartment fire.”  Also responding to the blaze were the Port Royal Police and Burton Fire District.

Palo Alto, CA – Sprinkler system contains apartment fire started by teenager cooking hash oil

A teenager who police said was cooking hash oil in his Palo Alto apartment was arrested Thursday night after he started a fire that displaced several residents in the apartment complex.

The 17-year-old male, whose identity is not being released because he is a juvenile, was reportedly trying to make hash oil in the kitchen at around 8:40 p.m. Police said he was using the kitchen stove and liquid butane to make the liquid substance, a concentrated form of cannabis that can be smoked or ingested. The teenager briefly left the stove unattended and a fire started, triggering the building’s sprinkler system, police said.

The Palo Alto Fire Department received calls from several residents about the fire, but when police officers and firefighters arrived on scene they found that the fire had already been extinguished by the sprinkler system, according to police.

The fire damaged the kitchen but was otherwise contained, police said. Yet both the teenager’s apartment and two neighboring apartments sustained major water damage and were deemed uninhabitable for the night. American Red Cross workers helped the residents in the neighboring apartments obtain shelter for the night, police said.

In investigating the fire, police said they determined that once the fire was extinguished, the teen tossed the butane canisters down a nearby trash chute and tried to flush down the toilet a “substantial amount of marijuana.”

After paramedics treated him for a burn on his arm, the teenager was cited for one felony count of manufacturing hash oil and one misdemeanor count of destruction of evidence. He was released into the custody of a parent, police said.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the department’s 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.

Webb City, MO – Early morning apartment fire contained by sprinkler system

A sprinkler system limited the spread of a fire in a Webb City apartment building early Tuesday.  Crews with the Webb City Fire Department responded to a fire at the Cardinal Towers, 324 N. Tom St., about 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

The alarm was traced to a single apartment on the first floor, where firemen searched for occupants. They found the woman had left the apartment when she was awakened by the alarm and was safe in the lobby of the building.

Firemen were able to stop the fire quickly, they said, because the sprinkler system had prevented the blaze from spreading beyond the single apartment. The source of the blaze was found to be in the area of a medical oxygen concentrator. The Webb City Police Department and METS ambulance also responded to the blaze.

Purcellville, VA – Balcony fire at apartment building put out by sprinkler system

The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office has determined that a fire Tuesday on Dominion Terrace in Purcellville was caused by improperly discarded smoking materials.  Firefighters were called to the scene about 12:45 p.m. to 640 Dominion Terrace to find several smoke alarms sounding and smoke showing from the front of the apartment building.

After further investigation, fire and rescue crews found remnants of a fire on a third- floor apartment balcony that had been extinguished by the apartment’s automatic sprinkler system. Fire department personnel determined there was no fire extension and remained on scene until the structure was adequately ventilated.

With the help of the apartment building’s automatic sprinkler system, the fire was contained to the balcony of a single unit, damages were limited to $1,000 and there were no injuries to civilians or firefighters.

Charlottesville, VA – Arson fire at apartment building doused by sprinkler system

Four people were displaced by a fire in a Charlottesville apartment Thursday. The fire occurred shortly after 4:30 p.m. on the 800 block of Mallside Forest Court. According to the Albemarle County Fire Marshal’s Office, this is an arson case. The Albemarle County Police Department has arrested 31-year-old Cleve Kush on a charge of burning or destroying a dwelling.

A sprinkler system in the apartment limited the size of the fire and the damage it caused. The Fire Marshal’s Office reports the damage estimate is about $1,200. The investigation into the arson is underway. One person was taken to the hospital for possible smoke inhalation. The Red Cross is helping the apartment residents.

Battle Ground, WA – Sprinkler system suppresses apartment fire; No injuries and damage minimized

A fire sprinkler successfully suppressed an apartment fire Tuesday afternoon in Battle Ground, minimizing potential damage. Nobody was home when the fire broke out in a unit at Meadow View Apartments, said Clark County Fire & Rescue Division Chief Mike Jackson. Firefighters were called to 611 N.W. 20th Ave. at 2:49 p.m.

The oven had been left on the clean setting and ignited items on the stove, Jackson said. “The fire was luckily controlled with a single sprinkler head before we got there,” he said. There was minimal fire and water damage, though a neighboring unit may have some water damage, Jackson said. Without the sprinkler, the fire could have grown to be much worse and caused more damage. Fire sprinklers are activated by heat, going off when it reaches around 165 degrees.

Centreville, VA – Sprinklers extinguish unattended cooking fire in four-story apartment building

A Saturday morning fire at a Centreville apartment injured one person and left nine other people without a home, according to the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department.

Fire and rescue units responded at about 10 a.m. to the blaze at 5852 Post Corners Trail, in a complex behind the Newgate shopping center. They found that a sprinkler system had extinguished the fire before they arrived, but light smoke filled the four-story apartment.

One occupant was transported to the Washington Hospital Burn Center by ambulance with non-life threatening injuries, the fire department said. Damage to the apartment is estimated at $23,000.

Smoke alarms alerted the apartment’s 10 occupants to the fire, which was caused by unattended food left on a kitchen stove, the fire department said. The Red Cross is helping the occupants.