Category Archives: Residential

Danville, VA – Sprinkler systems assists firefighters in extinguishing senior apartment blaze

The Danville Fire Department stopped an apartment fire on Monday afternoon.  Crews arrived at 2:06 p.m. to 601 Bridge Street, a five-story apartment building, after a reported fire in Apartment 306. Firefighters say they found light smoke conditions in the third-floor hallway and water coming from under the apartment’s door.

When they entered the apartment, they found moderate smoke conditions and a small fire beside the stove. They quickly extinguished the small fire with a fire extinguisher as the sprinkler system had extinguished almost all of the fire. The fire was determined to be under control at 2:25pm.

One person inside the apartment building was having difficulty breathing and had to be treated and transported by the Danville Life Saving Crew to the Danville Regional Medical Center. The sprinkler system was controlled and salvage operations were done. The fire apartment sustained minor fire, smoke and water damage. Seven other apartments sustained water damage. The American Red Cross is assisting the displaced occupants.

Seventeen fire personnel were on the scene for two hours and 29 minutes. The Danville Life Saving Crew, Danville Electric Department, Danville Water and Gas Department and the American Red Cross assisted on scene.

The cause of the fire was investigated by the Fire Marshal’s Office and determined to be unattended cooking. No other injuries were reported.

Simmesport, LA – Sprinkler system activates to stop fire in nursing home storage room

“Always on a Sunday.”

That’s what Bayou Chateau Nursing home owner Gerard LaCour could say in a moment of relief following the evacuation of his facility just hours earlier.

Around 6 p.m. Sunday, the nursing home’s sprinkler system and fire alarm were activated after what LaCour said were “problems in a storage room.”

First responders including Simmesport Police and Fire and Acadian Ambulance got to the nursing home and quickly worked to evacuate residents.

According to Acadian’s Twitter account, two patients were moved to other nursing facilities and one was taken to an area hospital.

According to the captain of Simmesport Fire Department and Simmesport City Councilman Jacob Coco, there was no fire damage, but there was water in the building due to the sprinkler system.

He said that much of that water was quickly cleaned up by members of the community who responded to the scene, including the mayor.

Coco said that once the scene was cleared, they were able to bring the residents back to the nursing home.

Hibbing, MN – Fire in apartments at mental health center extinguished by sprinkler system

No one was injured during an unoccupied apartment fire at 8:22 a.m. Wednesday at the Perpich Apartments, located at 3110 Fourth Ave. W. The apartments are located on the back of Range Mental Health Center (RMHC) in the former Cobb Cook School.

Riverside, CA – Early morning house fire isolated to garage by sprinkler system; Family escapes unharmed

The garage of a two-story Riverside home ignited Wednesday morning, March 22.  Riverside firefighters responded to the 9400 block of Newbridge Road about 4:25 a.m. to a smoking garage, according to a news release from the Fire Department.  The home’s sprinkler system kept the fire isolated in the garage, the release said, and firefighters put out the flames. Crews then worked to remove water from the home.  The family of four inside the home made it out safely. Nobody was injured, the release said.

Fair Lakes, VA – Early morning apartment fire suppressed by sprinkler system; No serious injuries reported

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department on March 14 at 3:07 a.m. dispatched units for a fire alarm sounding in the 12400 block of Hayes Court in Fair Lakes.  Less than a minute after the dispatch, authorities received a 911 call from someone at the address, who stated there was a fire. The department then dispatched additional units to the scene. Units arrived at the three-story garden apartment to find a small fire in a bedroom. The blaze was controlled by the fire sprinkler system and firefighters extinguished the remaining fire.

Three adult occupants received minor, non-life-threatening injuries while attempting to extinguish the blaze before fire personnel arrived. Rescue workers treated all occupants at the scene and none required transportation to an area hospital.

Fire investigators determined the fire was accidental and originated in a bedroom. The fire was caused by an occupant who was smoking in bed and dropped a cigarette onto oxygen tubing, causing a flash fire that ignited bed linens and other combustible items.

Sherwood Park, AB, Canada – Grease fire at retirement home controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A fire at Silver Birch Court last week resulted in the evacuation of 55 people.  During the evening of Thursday, March 16, Strathcona County Emergency Services responded to a fire alarm at Silver Birch Court, located in Sherwood Park and managed by the Heartland Housing Foundation.

As the alarm was triggered by a grease fire in an occupied unit, it was controlled by the building’s sprinkler system until first responders arrived to fully extinguish the fire. The water from the sprinkler flooded all four floors of the east wing of the affordable housing facility, resulting in considerable damage to the suite of origin; however, due to the rapid deployment of the sprinklers and firefighter response, no smoke damage was seen outside the suite of origin.

Strathcona County Victim Services staff, transit buses, RCMP and Enforcement Services provided on-site support for the evacuated residents of Silver Birch Court, and no injuries were reported. As of Friday, March 17, restoration services were on–site and work is being done to have residents return to their suites as soon as possible.

Portland, OR – Mattress fire at downtown apartment held in check by sprinkler system

Firefighters are working to put out a mattress fire Thursday morning inside a building in Northwest Portland. Reports came in just before 10 a.m. of a fire on NW 6th and Flanders Street.  Portland Fire & Rescue said the flames were kept in check by the building’s sprinkler system. Arriving crews searched the unit for people, but initial reports state that the area was clear.  A fire crew is working to “salvage” the unit, or try and prevent any further smoke and sprinkler damage.

Hamden, CT – Sprinkler system holds fire in check at senior apartment complex

More than 40 elderly residents were evacuated during a fire early Friday morning at the Davenport Resident on Putnam Avenue, an eight-story building with 217 apartments that houses mostly senior citizens.

Firefighters responded to the apartment complex, located at 125 Putnam Avenue, at 6:46 a.m. after receiving 911 calls and a report from the fire-alarm company that services the property, according to Deputy Chief Gary Merwede.

The first-arriving crews found multiple elderly residents were in the process of evacuating the building and required assistance. The fire was determined to be in a third-floor apartment, according to Merwede.

Merwede said that several residents were physically carried from stairwells by firefighters.Incident Commander Ronald Desroches called for a second alarm and all remaining Hamden Fire companies were dispatched to the scene and the fire was under control at approximately 7:25 a.m., according to Merwede.

“American Medical Response was asked to set-up a triage center in the adjoining 135 Putnam Dunbar Residence,” Merwede said in a press release. “AMR paramedics triaged more than 40 elderly residents, with one elderly female patient requiring transport for exposure to smoke and cold temperatures. The Hamden CERT Team was activated and assisted with displaced residents during operations. Several disabled residents were protected in place in apartments or designated areas of refuge by firefighters above the fire floor.

“The fire was contained to the room of origin. Companies worked to ventilate smoke, carbon monoxide and the other products of combustion on floors 3 – 8. The ventilation operation took more than an hour following suppression. After firefighters metered for a safe atmosphere, residents were escorted back to their apartments by Hamden CERT.”

Merwede said the building’s sprinkler system held the fire in check and allowed firefighters to stop the fire from spreading to additional floors and apartments.

“The fire-alarm system performed according to design and alerted the occupant of the fire apartment and all building residents of the emergency,” Merwede said. “Due to these fire protection systems, the resident in 313 and others on the fire floor were able to make it to the stairwell and either self-evacuate or await assistance from firefighters.”

Deputy Fire Marshal Tim Lunn determined that the fire was most likely caused by an overheated extension cord.

The management of the Davenport Residence is relocating any resident displaced by this emergency due to fire, water or smoke damage to vacant apartments elsewhere in the complex, according to Merwede.

Concord, NH – Fire at 167 year old farmhouse controlled with help from sprinkler system

Concord firefighters envisioned the call before it became reality, imagining what it would be like to have to put out a fire at the massive 1850 farmhouse – converted into apartments – at 4 Garvins Falls Road.

“I think somebody told me last night,” fire Chief Dan Andrus said, “this is the building you drive by and you go, ‘I hope I’m not on duty the night that comes in.’ ”

The chief added: “This building is 167 years old. It’s a lot of very old and dry timber.”

Just before midnight Sunday, the imagined call happened. Residents of the Farmhouse Apartments smelled smoke, and within five minutes, 19 Concord firefighters were on the scene.

Then, almost immediately, they rang a second alarm, beckoning crews from seven towns and bringing the total to 40 firefighters.

Investigators determined Monday that the fire was “caused by the improper disposal of smoking materials, which fell through cracks into the building’s basement where it ignited dry leaves and other combustibles.”

That meant that the flames crept through the gaps in the walls, “which gives fire a good avenue to move through a building, sometimes undetected,” Andrus said.

In the dark of night, when temperatures plunged as low as 10 degrees, firefighters tore into the walls to ensure the flames would have no escape. This environment – coupled with the hazard of the old building – necessitated backup from surrounding towns to relieve the responders who were exhausted from heavy physical labor, the chief said.

“It’s difficult to sustain hard work in temperature extremes,” Andrus said.

But relative to the size of the building, which stretches roughly 200 feet end to end, according to city assessing records, the fire was contained to a small portion.

Deputy Fire Chief Sean Toomey credited the aggressive response and the building’s sprinkler system with averting “a potentially catastrophic fire.”

“Sprinklers don’t cover all of the spaces in a building,” Toomey said. “In this case, it took a considerable amount of effort to stop the fire from spreading through the voids and save the building.”

No one was injured, the chief said, but the fire caused “heavy damage to two units” of the complex, which has white clapboards and a green roof and is located behind the Dunkin’ Donuts on Manchester Street.

The Red Cross said it was assisting 23 adults and four children as a result of the fire. It was the second house fire in a week in the city that prompted assistance from the Red Cross.

“They met at the Red Cross Regional Headquarters in Concord, N.H., to stay warm while they were assisted,” the nonprofit wrote in a statement. “Local firefighters were on site to assist as well.”

The building – assessed at $775,000 – has been owned by Farmhouse Apartments LLC since 2008, according to city assessing records.

A man who answered a phone associated with the company’s owner, Matthew LoGuidice, said he wouldn’t be available to speak about the incident.

“I’ve got nothing to tell you at this time,” said the man, who also said he was not LoGuidice.

The Red Cross didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking more information on the displaced residents.

 

Milford, CT – No injuries in senior housing complex fire; Fire caused by unattended cooking

Four tenants of a housing complex in Milford have been displaced after a fire on Friday night.  Milford Fire Department says they received notification of an active fire alarm at 75 Demaio Drive around 7:30 p.m. Firefighters responded to the city-owned elderly housing complex and were notified of a working fire on the fourth floor of the structure.

The sprinkler system in the buildings had activated due to a cooking fire in a unit on the fourth floor. The sprinkler system extinguished the fire.  The tenant stated that the fire started when he stepped away from the kitchen area. He said he left the stove unattended.

There were no injuries reported from the fire.  Four tenants were displaced by the fire and will be relocated to an unaffected area of the complex. Milford housing and sprinkler crews were on the scene to begin fixing the damage.