Framingham, MA – Cooking fire in rooming house contained by single sprinkler

Damage from a fire in a 12-unit rooming house in Framingham Wednesday was minimized due to sprinklers, according to the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Framingham Fire Chief.

A cooking fire occurred in a 12-unit rooming house at 260 Union Avenue in Framingham, just after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15. Fortunately, the building is equipped with residential sprinklers and a single sprinkler head contained the fire, said Framingham Fire Chief Gary Daughtery. “Fire sprinklers minimized the damage to the building, used less water to control the fire than we would have, and minimized the time these residents were displaced from their home,” said Daughtery.

The resident panicked and instead of putting a lid on the pan tried to put the grease fire out with water, which quickly spread the fire onto the counter and cabinets, according to the state’s fire marshal’s office. The 12 occupants were temporarily displaced while, repairs were made to the kitchen and will be moving back home today, April 16, said a release from the state fire marshal’s office.  Damage was confined to a small area around the stove and no one was injured in the fire.

“Residential fire sprinklers are the future of fire,“ said Daughtery. “They keep fires smaller and cooler so they are less dangerous for both the people inside the home and responding firefighters.”