Category Archives: Warehouse

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Ontelaunee, PA – Sprinkler system keeps fire in Ashley Furniture warehouse from spreading

A two-alarm fire occurred last Thursday night at a warehouse for Ashley Furniture in Ontelaunee Township .  Crews were dispatched about 7:20 p.m. to the first block of Ashley Way for the report of an automatic fire alarm.  Leesport Fire Chief Kenneth Quell said employees were evacuating the large building when firefighters arrived and were directed to an area where they were told that the sprinkler system had been activated.

Quell said firefighters encountered smoke in the building and discovered a small fire contained within a three-level rack system that holds finished furniture in the warehouse. Quell said firefighters knocked down the fire within minutes and had it under control within 30 minutes.

“The fire itself didn’t envelop a very big area,” Quell said. “The sprinklers contained it and kept it from spreading.” About 50 firefighters responded, Quell said. There were no reports of injuries to employees or firefighters. Ashley employees re-entered the building to help remove excess water on the floor from the sprinkler system, Quell said. A state police fire marshal was called to help in the investigation, Quell said. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was called out after the investigation was started, he said. Quell said the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Windsor, VT – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in bringing large warehouse fire under control

The alarm and sprinkler systems inside a large warehouse at the Windsor Technology Park helped prevent the flames from a fire on Saturday morning from damaging any of the nearly 300 vehicles stored there, co-owner of the park Alan Cummings said on Monday. “We have a sophisticated alarm and sprinkler system so it was caught quickly,” Cummings said. “The furnace was destroyed but nothing else. The fire department did a great job.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but fire officials said it started in the elevated furnace in one corner of the building. Windsor Fire Chief Kevin McAllister said when the first crews arrived just past 11 a.m. and opened the doors to warehouse, they saw a “large amount of fire,” but were uncertain of its origin. McAllister said it took about 15-20 minutes to knock down the fire and get it under control; they were able to contain it to the oil-fired furnace.

He said flames did not damage any of the vehicles, which included large RVs, campers, boats and antique automobiles, but there was a lot of thick black smoke throughout the building for a couple of hours and that may have caused some damage. “That stuff can get into anything,” McAllister said. The chief also said a fuel oil line to the furnace ruptured and was spilling oil from a 30,000-gallon underground tank. Some of that oil got outside the building, and officials with the state Agency of Natural Resources were at the park on Monday to meet with Cummings.

“We are assessing the amount of cleanup today,” Cummings said, estimating that only a small amount of oil made it outside the building. The northern end of the affected building where most of the vehicles are stored, is about 65,000 square feet, said Cummings, who owns the park with Hunter Banbury. The entire storage area is around 90,000 square feet, he said. McAllister said the call started out as a “box alarm” but ended up going to a second alarm, bringing in departments from West Windsor, Ascutney, Springfield, Hartland and Hartford. Cummings said the park will replace the furnace and the sprinkler system.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Chicago, IL – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in controlling blaze at mattress warehouse

Additional crews were called to a fire Monday night at a mattress factory in the Canaryville neighborhood on the South Side.   Firefighters responded shortly after 8:30 p.m. to the fire at the mattress at 4041 Emerald Ave., according to the Chicago Fire Department. Crews were battling the fire from the outside of the building, eventually putting it out by 10:49 p.m.  The block-long building was a “large warehouse” with a heavy fire load as mattresses caught on fire, the fire department said. It had a sprinkler system which helped put out the fire as a fire engine fed it with water.  The building remained structurally sound with only damage to the mattresses on the inside, fire officials said. No injuries were reported.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Kent, WA – Warehouse fire caused by recharging forklift battery controlled by sprinkler system

What started as a sprinkler water flow alarm (SWFA) on Friday night turned into a commercial fire in the 20100 block of 72 Ave. S., Kent, the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority reported. No one was in the building at the time of the fire and there were no injuries. When firefighters got on scene they discovered that the entire warehouse and office spaces of the building were filled with smoke, Puget Sound Fire said. The engine company quickly upgraded the alarm to a full “commercial structure fire” to add additional units.

The fire appears to have originated where a forklift’s battery was being charged, fire officials said. The SWFA was set off when the heat from the fire activated the sprinkler head directly above it, exactly as it was designed to do, fire officials said. The movement of water through the pipes sent a signal to the alarm monitoring company, which called the local 911. The activated sprinkler head controlled the fire and kept it from spreading, giving firefighters the time needed to access the inside of the building with fire hoses to fully extinguish it, Puget Sound Fire said. Because of the size and height of the concrete tilt-up style building, firefighters are using large fans to clear out the smoke. A fire investigator will go in once that is accomplished to confirm the cause of the fire.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Fort Wayne, IN – Warehouse fire held in check by sprinkler system; Firefighters extinguish flames

An employee arriving to work at a warehouse discovered a fire inside the building this morning. Firefighters were called to Heavy Duty Manufacturing at 4317 Clubview Drive, west of Engle Road, just before 6 a.m. Crews found the sprinkler system was holding the fire in check in the warehouse area of the building, the Fort Wayne Fire Department said. Firefighters extinguished the flames in about 20 minutes, the fire department said. The building was damaged by smoke and water and the fire mostly damaged items inside the building, the department said. No one was hurt fighting the fire. The blaze is under investigation.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Owensboro, KY – Early morning fire at carpet warehouse controlled by sprinkler system

The Owensboro Fire Department responded to an alarm on Salem Drive early Tuesday morning. When crews arrived on the scene around 3:15 AM they noticed smoke showing from Carpets Unlimited. According to a release from OFD, the sprinkler system had activated. Firefighters found smoke in almost every area of the warehouse.

OFD said that sprinkler system controlled most of the fire, and their crews were able to put out the rest. In all, firefighters spent nearly three hours on the scene clearing out smoke and water. The cause of the fire is under investigation, as is the amount of actual smoke and water damage. Fire Chief Steve Mitchell said in a statement, “OFD crews did a tremendous job reducing the loss at this location. Our goal is to do everything we can to help the business get back in operation as quickly as possible.”

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Winston-Salem, NC – Fire crews credit sprinkler system with containing warehouse fire

A warehouse in Winston-Salem caught fire on Tuesday, but nobody was hurt.  Crews were called to a Waste Management facility at 280 Business Park Drive shortly after 6 p.m., according to the Winston-Salem Fire Department.  Thirty-one firefighters had the fire under control in about 35 minutes. Smoke was showing as crews arrived. Firefighters credit the building sprinkler system for helping keep the fire from spreading. A cause has not been released.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Montreal, QC, Canada – Sprinklers help protect warehouse from suspicious fire

The arson squad is investigating what is being described as a suspicious fire in Montreal’s Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough.

The fire started inside a storage warehouse business located on Pontgravé Street, near Laurentien Boulevard at around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Police said the fire triggered an alarm which alerted firefighters and activated the sprinkler system.

The blaze was quickly put out and damage to the building was limited.

Montreal police spokesperson Manuel Couture said the fire started just inside the front door of the business.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, they noticed that the glass door was shattered, raising the possibility the blaze was intentionally set.

 

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Wenatchee, WA – Sprinkler system helps control foam tray fire at packaging company

A fire in foam apple trays at Dolco Packaging was confined from spreading by an exterior sprinkler system and a quick response by firefighters.   The foam trays were stacked on pallets  in an outdoor storage yard and the burning material put up a significant amount of black smoke when it was first reported to RiverCom about 7:20pm.  The facility is located at 1121 S. Columbia Street in Wenatchee.

The Wenatchee World reports crews from Chelan Fire District #1 and Douglas Fire District #2 arrived and quickly knocked down the fire.   A 2nd alarm was sent out requesting more firefighters but was quickly cancelled when the fire was brought under control according to  Chelan County Battalion Chief Cary Neu.   He reported some smoke damage to the interior of the warehouse but the majority of the damage was outside.  The cause of the fire was not available.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Sandwich, IL – Storage fire at molding business distribution center held in check by sprinkler system

The Sandwich Fire Department extinguished a blaze at the Plano Molding Company on Thursday.  Fire officials were dispatched to the Plano Molding Company, which is located at 500 Duvick Ave. at approximately 11:24 a.m. for an activated fire alarm. While officials were enroute to the scene, they were updated from 911 calls that there was a fire within the building at 510 Duvick Ave., which is the Plano Molding distribution warehouse. Fire units found that the sprinkler system was active, and that there was a fire in the stack of pallets inside the building.

All occupants of the building evacuated safely, and there were no injuries reported.  The sprinkler system in the building kept the fire smoldering until fire crews were able to fully extinguish the fire. Fire crews extinguished the fire in approximately 20 minutes. Crews worked to clear the smoke out of the building and remove the burnt material outside.  Officials from the Sandwich Fire Department were assisted on scene by Little-Rock Fox, Bristol-Kendall, Newark and Somonauk Fire.  The Sandwich Fire Station was covered with help from the Oswego and Big Rock Fire Departments.