Category Archives: Residential High Rise

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise

Fall River, MA – Sprinklers extinguish fire on 6th floor of apartment building with over 100 elderly and disabled residents; No injuries

An early-evening fire sent elderly and disabled residents of Borden Place West, 181 S. Main St., out of their apartments. The fire started around 5:30 p.m. in the trash compactor, according to Fall River District Fire Chief Douglas Sullivan. The exact cause was being investigated, but Sullivan said it appeared accidental.  The sprinkler went on in the trash compactor and extinguished the fire.

“The system worked the way that it should have,” Sullivan said. “The fire was contained.”

Wendy Carvalho, who acts as the fire warden on the sixth floor where she resides, said someone may have dropped an ashtray or cigarette into the trash chute “I knocked on everyone’s door,” Carvalho said. “They all came out.”

Most of the 100-plus residents in the building are elderly or disabled, with many using walkers and in wheelchairs. Heavy smoke hung in the hallways even after the fire was extinguished, and many residents sat outside waiting to get back into their apartments. Other residents were inside the community room on the street level, and out of harm’s way.

Resident Joseph Blanchard, who has lived in the building for 25 years, said it wasn’t the first fire at Borden West, but it was the worst. “There was really a lot of smoke,” Blanchard said.

Sullivan said Borden West owner Peabody Properties called in professional cleaners to remove the excess water from the apartments that were flooded on the first floor. All residents were allowed back inside within a couple of hours.

No residents were injured. One firefighter fell and injured his shoulder but was able to continue working. Responding to the fire were four engines, two ladder trucks, Rescue No. 1, Special Services, and Fall River police.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential, Residential High Rise

Iowa City, IA – Late night fire on 9th floor of University of Iowa residence hall held in check by sprinkler system; No injuries

A fire on the ninth floor of Slater Residence Hall did minor damage to the University of Iowa building early Saturday morning. According to a news release from the Iowa City Fire Department, firefighters arrived at Slater Hall, 325 S. Grand Ave., at about 1:24 a.m. Saturday, four minutes after receiving an alarm for a fire on the ninth floor.

When firefighters arrived, all occupants of the structure had evacuated the building, according to the release. The fire was contained to a single dorm room. The building’s sprinkler system helped keep the fire in check, according to the release, and the fire was extinguished within six minutes. No civilians or firefighters were injured by the fire. Minimal smoke and fire damage was reported to the building, according to the release, and two students were displaced from their dorm by fire damage.

A release from UI Department of Strategic Communications Saturday said that “there is significant water damage on several floors.” A second release on Sunday confirmed that only two students remained displaced by the fire and were being provided with temporary housing in Slater while their room was repaired.

UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck had said Saturday it was likely “very few” residents displaced and that they had been provided rooms. Sprinklers had only been activated in the areas effected by the fire, Beck said. UI is still waiting on a damage estimate. Beck added that the dorm had its annual fall fire drill in September, so residents were prepared for the evacuation.

Estimated cost of damage and the cause of the fire were not known as of Saturday morning, though both were still being investigated. The UI release said that the fire “appears to have been unintentional.”

University of Iowa Police, Iowa City Police, Johnson County Ambulance Service and University of Iowa Facilities supported the ICFD at the scene.

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

North Adams, MA – Cooking fire in 7th floor apartment quickly put out by sprinkler system

Firefighters evacuated some residents from the high rise on Friday afternoon after a small cooking fire broke out on the 7th floor. Fire Director Stephen Meranti said the fire was quickly put out by the sprinkler system.

“Right now we are evacuating because of smoke and water. We do have water all the way from the seventh floor all the way down,” Meranti said. “We are checking apartments as we go down through, but the sprinkler system did its job.”  Meranti said no one was injured.

The Fire Department was alerted to the situation at about 12:30 p.m., when an alarm was activated in a unit at the Ashland Park Apartments. Scanner reports indicated water was “pouring down the hallways” in the Housing Authority building.

Residents clustered in the community room on the ground floor until being allowed back into their homes. Executive Director Jennifer Hohn said a few units below the seventh-floor apartment were affected.

“A significant amount of water from the sprinklers has entered the units directly below on all floors,” she said. “As a result of water seeping into electrical panels, power to these affected units has been shut off.”

Hohn said the Holiday Inn was gracious to offer accommodations and a meal for those residents affected by the fire and its containment.

 

“There is a chance the power will not be restored by the evening so I have reserved a block of rooms at the Holiday Inn for anybody needing accommodations,” she said. “I will update the board when a further assessment of the damage is concluded.

 

“The important thing is nobody was injured.”

 

Police and North Adams Ambulance Service also responded; Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Police assisted with traffic control as Ashland Street was restricted to one lane.

 

The incident is under investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise

Nashville, TN – No one hurt in senior high-rise after sprinklers extinguish overnight fire

Emergency crews evacuated a Nashville retirement home early Monday after a resident reportedly fell asleep while smoking and caught a chair on fire, a fire spokesman said. Fire crews responded about 1:15 a.m. to Trevecca Towers at 60 Lester Ave. for a report of smoke at the 16-story building, Nashville Fire Department spokesman Brian Haas said.

Arriving crews evacuated the tower and found several pieces of furniture on fire in a room on the second floor, Haas said. The building’s sprinklers put the fire out shortly after crews arrived, Haas said.

“We have a lot of residents whose families are concerned,” said Tyler Jones, the building’s manager. “Thankfully, the sprinkler system worked as designed, so we’re grateful no one was hurt.”

Nearly two dozen residents were displaced, Haas said, but some of them were able to be housed at vacant units in the same building. The American Red Cross was called in to contact families of the other displaced residents to find temporary homes until their units are repaired. The nonprofit agency also provided cots for a few other displaced residents.

Although the facility may also have to put some displaced residents in hotel rooms, Jones said he wants to assure families that the residents will be taken care of.

 

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Waipahu, HI – Kitchen fire in high-rise apartment building extinguished by sprinkler

Unattended food on a stove caused the evacuation of the high-rise building Tuesday night.  The fire was reported at 9:36 p.m. at the Plantation Town Apartments located at 94-979 Kauolu Place.

Seven fire companies staffed with 23 personnel arrived at 9:42 p.m. to find residents leaving the 12-story apartment building. Firefighters discovered the kitchen fire had been extinguished by an activated fire sprinkler.  The activated sprinkler system caused significant flooding to ten additional units.

Paramedics treated a resident injured evacuating the building and took the resident to the hospital.  The fire was isolated to the kitchen area of a fourth floor unit.  Damage is estimated at $5,000 to the structure and $2,000 to its contents.

The water damage had not been evaluated Tuesday night.  No other injuries were reported.

Residential, Residential High Rise

St. Petersburg, FL – Sprinkler system saves residents of high-rise residential tower after ninth floor kitchen fire

(Blog Editor’s Note – Smoke does not cause sprinklers to activate – Only the substantial heat from a significant fire).

A small kitchen fire set off the sprinkler system and forced evacuation of the Burlington Towers in downtown St. Petersburg on Monday night, sending dry residents into the evening showers.

The fire in a unit on the 9th floor was put out quickly, but the smoke had activated the alarm system and set off the sprinkler system, officials said. At one point there were two inches of water in the hall of the 9th floor, and water had cascaded down to the seventh floor hall.

Some of the responding firefighters, who normally would haul hoses, were instead told to bring squeegees. There were no reports of injuries.

Apartment Building, Residential High Rise

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.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential High Rise

Pikeville, KY – Fire at residential high-rise for elderly and disabled extinguished by sprinkler system

A sprinkler system quickly extinguished a fire at the Myers Towers apartments on the 700 block of Hambley Boulevard.  The fire started sometime around 1:30 a.m. Friday on the 9th floor of the apartment building.  When the Pikeville Fire Department arrived, they found a small fire in one of the apartments but the sprinkler system had knocked it down.

PFD and Pikeville Police evacuated the apartment building, which houses the elderly and disabled in 200 units, while crews searched for the fire.  There were no injuries and the cause of the fire is under investigation

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential, Residential High Rise

Champaign, IL – Sprinklers control fire in campus high-rise apartment building

Nobody was hurt in an apartment fire Sunday night at a campus high-rise.  Champaign Fire Marshal John Koller said firefighters were called to a blaze at the Tower at Third, 302 E. John St. at 9:22 p.m.

By the time firefighters arrived, the sprinkler system was already controlling the fire, which was limited to a single apartment on the third floor. However, smoke had spread throughout the floor. There was moderate smoke in the apartment and light smoke on the rest of the floor.

The residents were evacuated to the lobby on the first floor while firefighters tackled the blaze.  A resident of the apartment told firefighters he had had some problems with a refrigerator in the apartment, but it was too soon to determine a cause on Sunday night. 

Koller said investigators would be looking into the cause late Sunday night and early Monday morning.  Koller said the fire was under control by 9:40 p.m.