Category Archives: Residential

San Francisco, CA – Arson fire at multi-tenant residential building contained by sprinkler system

An unidentified man set a fire at the Crown Hotel and SRO at 16th and Valencia late Monday morning. According to witnesses, the man broke the glass of a fire extinguisher case inside the building and used it to attempt to break into a resident’s room, and then reportedly spread gasoline on the hotel’s walls and floors. The man was taken into custody by police, witnesses said, and by noon a manager informed residents they would have to wait about another hour for water used to extinguish the fire to be cleaned up from the building.

Samantha Helstrom, a resident of the Crown Hotel for about a year and a half, said she came out of her room after she heard glass breaking. She saw a man banging on a resident’s door, apparently trying to break in and possibly manipulating a gasoline can. Shortly after, she saw smoke coming from the resident’s room and the man running downstairs.

Helstrom said she ran back inside to get water to put out the fire and managed to get a few buckets on the flames before the sprinkler system turned on and the building was evacuated. “The fire was pretty contained at that point between the sprinklers and me being a crazy fool,” Helstrom said, referring to her efforts to extinguish the flames.

Benji Francois, who has been in the building less than a week, said he usually ignores yelling and commotion since they’re so common, but when water started coming into his room from the sprinkler system, he knew something serious had happened. He said he opened his door to see flames, and then ran out of the building. “Not a good way to wake up,” Francois said.

Ontario, OH – Kitchen fire in off-campus apartment at Ohio State University controlled by sprinkler system

Springfield Township Fire Department Capt. Steve Krock said grease from a pan of food — possibly bratwurst — caused a fire about 8 p.m. Sunday in Buckeye Village Apartments.  “The sprinkler system went off and did what it was supposed to do,” Krock said. “Without that, we would have rolled up here and there would have been fire coming out of that front window.”

The fire caused smoke damage to neighboring apartments and displaced at least six residents. The fire triggered the smoke detector as well as the sprinkler system, the latter of which, Krock said, played a key role in containing the fire before firefighters responded.

All residents made it out of the apartment complex before firefighters responded.  Krock said four residents had to be moved to a vacant apartment complex for the night. Firefighters used fans to ventilate smoke from the apartment and used brushes to sweep out excess water on the first floor.

The Madison Township and Shelby fire departments assisted the Springfield Township Fire Department in containing the situation.  No one was injured as a result of the fire.

Stillwater, MN – Townhouse fire controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Just before 10 p.m. Jan. 30, firefighters were called to a townhouse fire in the 2800 block of Brewers Lane. When firefighters arrived, smoke was coming from the eight-unit townhouse complex.  Crews entered the unoccupied townhome, and found a sprinkler-controlled fire on the first floor.

Firefighters extinguished the fire and ventilated the building.  No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

 “The fire sprinkler in this building prevented significant fire damage to the complex and allowed the residents of the attached units to escape without injury,” a post on the Stillwater Fire Department’s Facebook page reads.

Bethesda, MD – Sprinkler system keeps fire away from residents in overnight apartment blaze

Firefighters were called to the Bethesda Hill Apartment building at 5114 Dudley Lane shortly after 3 a.m. by a guest at the Bethesda Marriott located across the street.  All occupants quickly got out of the building, but the fire had spread considerably through void and empty spaces, MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer said

Piringer said the building’s sprinkler system effectively prevented the fire from spreading to the building’s living spaces. Piringer said it appears to have started with a dryer and nearby combustible material before quickly spreading to duct work in the walls, ceilings and floors between the second and third floors. 

Annapolis, MD – Sprinklers extinguish fire at senior apartment complex; No injuries reported

Crews were called to an apartment fire at the Morris A. Blum Senior apartments in Annapolis around 7 p.m. last Wednesday. Arriving crews found a small fire in a wicker cabinet that was extinguished by two sprinklers that were activated by the fire.

Officials said in addition to the apartment where the fire happened, several units along the corridor and the first floor recreation area were affected. Officials said damage estimates are still being evaluated. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Englewood, NJ – Sprinkler system credited with saving apartment complex from fire; No injuries and fire contained to one room

Firefighters battled a two-alarm fire at the Towne Center apartment complex on Friday evening, with the city’s fire chief crediting the building’s sprinkler system with containing the blaze to one room and preventing more extensive damage.

The fire was caused by a candle that fell over in a living room about 5:40 p.m. in an apartment on the fourth-floor of the 4½-story complex and led to the temporary evacuation of about 150 people, said city Fire Chief Gerald Marion. It was under control about 30 minutes later, he said, adding that no one was injured and the fire’s cause was determined to be “accidental.”

Marion said the building, comprising two connected towers, is made of the same lightweight construction as the Avalon apartment complex in Edgewater where about hundreds of people were displaced indefinitely last week when one of its two buildings was destroyed by fire despite the presence of a sprinkler system. The Englewood complex’s robust sprinkler system “did most of the work” of putting out Friday’s fire, the chief said.

“Had there not been a sprinkler, we would have potentially seen something similar to Edgewater,” Marion said. He said that owners of the Towne Center, which has more than 180 units, on Friday night began repairing damage to the apartment where the fire occurred. The family that resides there is staying elsewhere during repairs, he said. Other residents were allowed to return to their apartments about an hour after the fire began.

Renton, WA – Sprinkler system extinguishes apartment fire before it can spread

A sprinkler system extinguished a fire at a Renton apartment complex Tuesday night before it could spread, according to Renton Fire and Emergency Services Department.

The call came in at 8:06 p.m. as an activated fire alarm at the Benson Downs Apartments, 11000 S.E. Petrovitsky Road.  No one was injured, but three families were displaced from their water-damaged apartments, according to Renton Deputy Fire Chief Chad Michael. The American Red Cross responded to assist them.

Four units suffered water damage, with the unit where the fire started the most affected by water and some fire, according to Michael.

The fire was started by flower-shaped decorative lights resting on the carpeted floor in the dining area, he said. Fire crews didn’t need to deploy their firefighting equipment but helped clean up the water damage.

Two engines, one ladder truck and two aid units responded to the fire. Michael stressed that the sprinkler system kept the fire in check. “The sprinkler did its job and kept the impact to a pretty minimal amount,” he said. A damage amount wasn’t immediately available.

He noted that recent fires at apartment complexes in Renton grew in size because they didn’t have sprinklers.

Bolivar, TN – Nursing home fire controlled by sprinkler system (NO MEDIA COVERAGE)

*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED ***

On 1/24/15 at approximately 5:02 PM the Bolivar Fire Department was dispatched to the scene of a structure fire at 700 Nuckolls Road. Pine Meadows Healthcare is located at this addressed. Units responding to the scene, arriving at 1704 hours, found that a dryer had overheated causing the fire. The sprinkler system (two heads) had activated and contained the fire to the laundry room until firefighters arrived on scene.

Pine Meadows Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, a Bolivar Nursing Home, located approximately 60 miles east of Memphis, is dedicated to meeting the healthcare needs of Bolivar, and surrounding communities.

Madison, WI – Sprinkler system suppresses early morning fire at assisted living facility

The Madison Fire Department says an electrical fault caused a fire at an assisted living facility on the city’s west side early Friday morning. According to fire officials, the sprinkler system contained the fire to that apartment, which limited the damage to the property.

Firefighters were called to Tabor Oaks Assisted Living on Mineral Point Road at about 6:40 a.m. after a fire broke out in a second-floor apartment. Staff members were able to get every resident out safely. No one was injured. Most residents were able to go back inside their apartments soon after firefighters left the scene.

Fire investigators say a fault in a bedside table lamp caused the fire.

Fremont, NE – Overnight fire in high-rise apartment building contained by sprinkler system

The automatic sprinkler system kept an early morning fire at Stanton Tower from becoming worse. Fremont Fire Department crews were called to the eighth floor of Stanton Tower at 3:56 a.m. Friday. “The sprinkler system is priceless,” Capt. Pat Tawney said. Tawney said it appears the resident had left a placed a piece of wood on top of the stove and then a microwave on top of that. So far, it’s undetermined how the fire started.

Smoke was contained to the eighth floor of the high-rise apartment building. Typically, Tawney said, the department recommends residents at either Gifford Tower or Stanton Tower remain in their apartments and place a towel at the bottom of the door when there is a fire in another unit until firefighters ask them to evacuate. Sprinklers and the concrete construction of the buildings help keep fires from spreading.