Category Archives: Residential High Rise

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Chicago, IL – Fire in 24-story high rise condominium tower contained by sprinkler system

On the night of February 23, a fire was contained to a single condo unit by a fire sprinkler system on the 14th floor of the Erie on the Park high-rise in Chicago. The information was obtained through an email sent to the residents by the property manager of the 24-story, 125-unit condo building at 510 West Erie Street. The building was required by the city to install fire sprinklers when it was completed in 2002.

Tom Lia, executive director of the nonprofit Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board, says that the successful fire sprinkler activation is an excellent reminder of the life-saving benefits that fire sprinklers provide in high-rises. But he also points out the glaring difference in fire protection between newer and older high-rises in Chicago.

“There are hundreds of residential high-rises in Chicago that were built before the city’s fire sprinkler requirements in 1975 that do not contain fire sprinklers,” notes Lia.

Approximately 100 of the older high-rises chose to install fire sprinklers to comply with the city’s Life Safety Evaluation (LSE) ordinance that had a deadline of January 1, 2015. That’s another 100 high-rises that will be in the “with” column for fire sprinklers, leaving less and less high-rises “without.”

Yet, the majority of the remaining high-rises chose other measures that will not fully protect residents unprotected from fires.

“As evidenced by last night’s sprinkler save, fire sprinklers are the only technology that actively control a fire and provide residents with a safe route of escape,” adds Lia. “High-rise owners, residents and prospective buyers must be mindful of the presence or absence of fire safety features, especially fire sprinklers, in their buildings.”

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Silver Spring, MD – Residential high-rise fire contained by sprinkler system

A residential apartment fire at 1220 East West Highway was contained by a sprinkler system on Dec. 29 in Silver Spring.

That’s the word from Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services Spokesperson Pete Piringer who said the fire in a 7th floor apartment of the 16-story building caused an estimated $5,000 in damage.

No one was home at the time of the fire, Piringer said.  According to Piringer, the cause of the fire was a computer overheating or electrical in nature.

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Chicago, IL – (NO MEDIA COVERAGE) High-rise condominium fire controlled by sprinklers

*** No Media Coverage – Contractor Reported ***   – A grease fire on an electric stove in an interior one-bedroom condo on the 23rd floor started on Saturday evening (12/20/14).  The owner attempted to extinguish it with a towel, but it didn’t work.  A sprinkler operated and controlled the fire. The building is located at 1629 S Prairie in downtown Chicago ( Adler Place, formerly called 1600 Museum Park)

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Kitchen fire at senior high-rise apartment building suppressed with help from sprinkler system (Owensboro, KY)

The call that every Owensboro firefighter fears came in at 12:07 a.m. Saturday: A fire on the 16th floor of Roosevelt House I, 2920 Yale Place.  “It was a kitchen fire,” Chief Steve Mitchell said later Saturday. “The sprinkler system had been activated, and we were able to knock the fire down fairly quickly.”  But more than 200 senior citizens live in the 18-story building, Owensboro’s tallest, and the 911 system was flooded with calls from people needing help evacuating the building, Mitchell said.  There were no serious injuries.

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High rise apartment fire put out by sprinkler system (Hinsdale, IL)

Fire sprinklers helped to save residents of a 17-story apartment building from injury on Tuesday evening. A fire began in the kitchen of one of the residences on the sixth floor, and the occupants escaped without injury. Several surrounding fire crews responded to the fire to find that a single fire sprinkler had put out the fire.

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Fire sprinklers limit fire damage in high rise fire (Mt. Prospect, IL)

Fire sprinklers extinguished a fire that began in a high rise apartment the morning of Sunday, March 2. Just before 2 a.m., fire crews responded to a fire alarm activation at the building, and when they arrived, they found that the fire, which had begun in the laundry room, had already been extinguished by the fire sprinkler in the room. Investigators believe the fire was caused by oily rags, which spontaneously combusted. There were no injuries reported.

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Sprinkler system extinguishes fire in lower parking garage of high-rise building (Chicago, IL)

** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED **

Early this morning, the Chicago Fire Department reported that a fire sprinkler system in the Franklin Center commercial high-rise at 227 W. Monroe extinguished a fire that was caused by an automobile in a lower level parking garage. 

 

“Too often we hear about the unsprinklered fires that cause major damage and injuries or deaths, but it’s even more important to highlight when larger fires are prevented thanks to the quick response of fire sprinklers,” says Tom Lia, executive director of the nonprofit Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board. “Today, a fire sprinkler system extinguished a car fire and prevented any harm to humans. That is why fire sprinklers are in the national model codes. They are vital to life and property protection in high-rises and all other occupancies as well.”
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Fire extinguished by sprinklers at high rise (Fargo, ND)

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An unattended lit candle was the culprit for the fire which began in a 15th floor apartment on Tuesday, December 16. According to reports, the resident discovered the fire when she re-entered her bedroom; the fire had ignited her pillow and bedspread. The resident attempted to put out the flames on her own with no success. The room’s fire sprinkler system activated from the heat of the fire and put out the blaze before fire crews arrived. No injuries occurred in the entire situation.

** Blog Editor’s Note – Please let us know what you think of the coverage by the INFORUM and Archie Ingersoll, who focused on water damage rather than the lives and property saved by the automatic fire sprinkler system**