Category Archives: Residential
Single sprinkler head eliminates fire at retirement housing facility (Columbus, GA)
Investigators believe that the fire which began at Farrfield Manor, a retirement home, was started by unattended food that was cooking on the stove of one of its units. Thankfully, the heat from the fire activated a single sprinkler head, which then put out the fire.
“It went out immediately,” Captain Brian Russell of the Columbus Fire and Emergency Medical Services said.
No one was injured in the incident, and everyone was able to go back to their apartments shortly after the incident.
Fire squelched by sprinkler system in multi-story apartment building (Baton Rouge, LA)
** Blog Editor’s Note – Please let us know what you think of the coverage by reporter Andrew Nomura and CBS 9News, which focused on water damage rather than the lives and property saved by the automatic fire sprinkler system **
Assisted living facility fire contained by sprinkler system (Oak Ridge, TN)
According to Tennessee fire officials, the residents of Park Ridge Assisted Living are grateful for the sprinkler system in their building after a fire began on Friday, January 31. Thanks to the fire sprinkler system, residents were able to safely evacuate the building, and the damage to the building was contained to one room.
“The damage to the building was minimal, and no residents were displaced,” Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. “Without the sprinkler system, we believe the outcome would be very different.”
Since 2003 the state of Tennessee mandated that fire sprinkler systems be installed in all nursing homes.
“The adoption of sprinkler system legislation has no doubt saved countless lives,” said Assistant Commissioner for Fire Prevention Gary West. “The lifesaving capabilities of these systems can be the difference during a fire.”
Sprinklers douse apartment fire started by small child (Vancouver, WA)
An eight-year old child started a fire in the bedroom of an apartment on Monday evening while using a lighter. The unit’s fire sprinkler activated and put out the majority of the fire before fire crews arrived.
“Automatic fire sprinklers keep fires small,” Vancouver Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli said. “The (loss) potential was really great.”
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.”
Fire sprinkler system puts out nursing home fire (Oklahoma City, OK)
Apartment fire extinguished by fire sprinkler system (Sneads Ferry, NC)
Sprinkler system controls dorm fire at University of Illinois (Champaign, IL)
Sprinkler puts out fire at apartments that burned in 2007 (Madison, WI)
Six years after a blaze destroyed a Madison apartment building, officials say the sprinkler system at a new building on the same site prevented serious damage from a weekend fire. The fire started Saturday when a discarded cigarette ignited a Christmas tree on a balcony, authorities said. By the time firefighters arrived, however, an automatic sprinkler had already extinguished the fire, leaving the building with only cosmetic damage, officials said. That’s a far cry from July of 2007, when a fire started by a cigarette butt caused $3.5 million in damage, according to State Journal archives.
“This is a perfect example of how fire sprinkler systems limit damage and most importantly, save lives,” Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Bernadette Galvez said in a statement.
