Category Archives: Residential

Langley, BC, Canada – Sprinker system credited with containing townhouse kitchen fire

 fire that started on the stove of a Walnut Grove townhouse on Thursday might have done far more damage than it did, if not for the presence of a working sprinkler system.

Pat Walker, assistant fire chief with the Township of Langley said the blaze started after a pot used to sterilize rubber nipples for baby bottles was accidentally left heating on the stove when the family went out.

“They left the house and thought they had turned (the burner) off, but it boiled dry,” said Walker. Eventually the nipples caught fire and ignited plastic components inside the stove’s hood.

The flames had also melted a cabinet door and a plastic kettle on the counter before being doused. “It would have been a totally different scenario without the sprinkler,” said Walker.

Layton, UT – Sprinkler system stops grease fire at apartment building

A mother and her three children should be able to move back into their apartment, with their possessions virtually intact after a fire last week, thanks to an automatic sprinkler system that held a grease fire to the stove top.

Layton fire crews were called to the fire at the Grayhawk Apartments, 2925 N. Church Street, where they found the woman standing outside her apartment building.

“Fire crews found water coming from the second story landing of the complex,” Bitton said. “They entered the apartment and found one activated fire sprinkler running above the stove top and charred remains of a pan with tortillas in the sink.”

Fire crews have seen numerous incidents where tenants would be displaced from their living space and their personal items and furnishing damaged beyond use without sprinkler systems, Bitton said.

“Although devastating for this mother and her children, they can reoccupy with no significant fire damage spread,”Bitton said.

The apartment complex’s sprinkler system is designed with a calibrated premix of glycerin to ensure there would be no freezing in the attic or breezeway areas, something Bitton said Layton fire officials are impressed with.

Muncie, IN – Sprinkler systems helps extinguish fire in loft apartment building

Terry Moore, Muncie Fire Department battalion chief, said a woman was in the process of moving her mother into an apartment on the seventh (and top) floor of the former Roberts Hotel when she placed a bag of clothing on the stove — and apparently accidentally turned on a burner.  The resulting fire was for the most part extinguished by a ceiling sprinkler.  Fire damage was minimal.

“The sprinkler did what it is supposed to do,” the battalion chief said. A few tenants, some in wheelchairs, stayed outside the building for several minutes.

Media, PA – Sprinkler extinguishes fire at senior assisted living center

Residents of one building at Granite Farms Estates were evacuated Sunday night after a wall heater caught fire. Firefighters were dispatched at 10 p.m. for a fire on the third floor of A Building, according to Fire Marshal Alan Mancill. The responding firefighters found smoke on the third floor and the residents of were evacuated.  The sprinkler system in the building extinguished the fire. The fire was placed under control in about five minutes. There were no reported injuries.

Minneapolis, MN – Sprinkler system activates to help contain high-rise apartment fire

A fire in a high-rise apartment building on the 300 block of Lowry Avenue North was reported just before 4 p.m. Monday.  The sprinkler system activated to help control the fire. Minneapolis Public Housing was called to the scene to help residents who will be displaced as a result of this fire and water from the sprinkler system.

Kelowna, BC, Canada – Deliberately set fire in nursing home extinguished by sprinkler system

The Kelowna Fire Department received an alarm at around 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning from White Heather Manor at 3728 Casorso Road. When crews arrived, they were met by the charge nurse who told them that there was a small fire in the nursing home’s activity room.

According to platoon captain Tim Light, the fire had already been extinguished before fire crews arrived by the sprinkler system. After searching the area, the firefighters shut off the water and then set up ventilation to clear smoke from the affected suites and hallways. The residents were evacuated outside at first, but when conditions permitted, they were sheltered in an unaffected area of the facility.

Firefighters stayed on scene to help lessen the water damage from the sprinkler. The Kelowna Fire Department says that this was a deliberately set fire, and that RCMP are now involved in the investigation.

Forestdale, MA – Sprinkler system puts out condominium fire

The Sandwich Fire Chief William Carrico is stressing the importance of residential sprinkler systems after a condominium was saved last night.  Crews arrived at the condo at 14 Brightside Lane in Forestdale just after 7:30 p.m. to find the fire had already been put out. The fire which started in the kitchen was confined to the stove top and was extinguished by the sprinkler system.  Carrico said if it were not for the sprinkler system, there would have been significant fire and smoke damage.

Lafayette, CA – Sprinkler system helps stop fire in single-family home, Fire crews rescue dog

Crews responded around 8:45 a.m. to reports of a fire at a house on Kim Road and arrived to find that a sprinkler system inside the home had helped prevent the blaze from spreading, fire Capt. George Laing said.  Firefighters rescued a pet dog from a fire that damaged a hillside home in Lafayette this morning, a Contra Costa County Fire Protection District spokesman said.

The home’s hillside location and its distance from the nearest fire hydrant made it tough to access and douse the flames, but crews were able to get the fire under control around 9:20 a.m., Laing said.

“All in all, this was a great job by the crews and a save by the sprinkler system,” the fire captain said.

St. Joseph, MO – Kitchen grease fire in university residence hall controlled by sprinkler system

A small grease fire in Scanlon Hall at Missouri Western State University caused an evacuation of all Scanlon residents on Tuesday, Nov. 18.  Jacob Teasley, second year resident assistant in Scanlon Hall, was involved with the event.

“There was a grease fire in the kitchen of the first floor guys’ wing,” Teasley said. “The students put water on it to put it out and it got worse.” Teasley believed there were two students directly involved in the fire.  He said that no one was hurt.

Mallory Murray, director of public relations and marketing, sent an email to all Western employees regarding the fire. “There was no structural damage, however, students were disrupted between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. and it may have impacted attendance in class for those that live in this hall,” Murray said in the email.  According to Teasley, the sprinkler was going off in the kitchen where the fire occurred only, not in the rest of the hall.

Pittsburgh, PA – Fire in high-rise residence hall at University of Pittsburgh extinguished by sprinkler system

University of Pittsburgh, Litchfield Tower A — The fire spread to a pillow and part of a chair, according to resident Jorge Garcia, but the sprinkler system put out the fire before it spread further.

“Fortunately, the sprinkler system was still working and put out the fire before any personnel arrived to extinguish it,” Pitt spokesman John Fedele said.  There was no “substantial damage” to anything in Tower A, Fedele said, aside from the carpet, desk and chair in room 818.

Garcia, a freshman neuroscience major, was in the room when the laptop caught fire. “I heard a spark, and then it was just flames,” Garcia said.