Department Store, Retail

Wilmington, DE – Fire at Macy’s Department Store suppressed by sprinkler system; No injuries

A fire at Macy’s in Concord Mall caused an estimated $150,000 in damages Thursday afternoon, according to fire officials. The blaze was reported shortly after 3 p.m. at the mall on Concord Pike in Brandywine Hundred, said Assistant State Fire Marshal Michael G. Chionchio in a press release.  Most of the fire damage occurred in a clothing storage area off the main sales floor, but smoke filled the department store, Chionchio said. The fire was suppressed by the building’s sprinkler system, he said.  The Talleyville Fire Company and several neighboring fire companies responded to the fire.  No injuries were reported, Chionchio said. The Delaware State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the origin and cause of the fire.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Huntington, WV – Arena fire controlled with help from sprinkler system; No injuries and no events canceled

Firefighters responded to a fire Friday morning at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington. Crews were able to quickly put out the fire, which started in an administrative office. The sprinkler system helped in the fire.  About 15 to 20 employees were in the building at the time.  No one was reported hurt in the incident.  Events at the arena will continue as normal.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Armstrong, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system douses fire; Assist firefighters in controlling fire in commercial building

There was very little sleep for Armstrong-Spallumcheen firefighters. The volunteer firefighters were first called to a blaze in downtown Armstrong Wednesday night and then to a fire at a Spallumcheen farm early Thursday morning.  “Our crew did a terrific job,” said Ian Cummings, fire chief.  The first call came in at 10:21 p.m. Wednesday at the Rose Valley Square on Pleasant Valley Road in Armstrong.  “The sprinkler was activated and there was smoke in the building,” said Cummings.   It’s believed spontaneous combustion caught some oily rags on fire, but the sprinkler was able to douse the flames.

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory

Flint Twp, MI – Fire at Baker College residence hall put out by sprinkler system; No injuries

All 46 residents have been cleared to move back into their rooms at Baker Hall East, except for three who live in the fire-damaged room. According to Baker College, they were the only students with property damage after the Wednesday evening incident and they’ve since been relocated.  The Flint Township fire department says it was a small cooking fire in their suite that was put out quickly when the sprinkler system activated, which caused water damage.  Baker College plans to cover the cost of their lost items.

(02/15/17) – A small cooking fire forces a Baker College dorm to be completely evacuated Wednesday night. The Flint Township fire department says the fire activated the sprinkler system at Baker Hall knocking out the flames pretty quickly. The unit was on the second floor, causing water damage on the first and second floor.  Crews had to evacuate everyone in the three story building for the night.  Power was also cut to the first two floors.  No one was hurt.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Tyler, TX – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in controlling fire at UT-Tyler dining hall

A small fire broke out in the kitchen area of the MET dining hall at the University of Texas at Tyler’s University Center Monday afternoon. A UT Tyler official said the fire triggered the sprinkler system only in the kitchen area.   Tyler fire units responded, but the fire was quickly brought under the control and most units were turned back.  The extent of the damage is unknown at this time, and the MET dining hall kitchen will be closed until the damage is cleaned and the health department has inspected the area.  No injuries were reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

Hickory, NC – Sprinkler system extinguishes overnight apartment kitchen fire; No injuries

Hickory firefighters were dispatched to a reported fire alarm at Kenworth Hall located at 426 2nd Ave SE. Firefighters responded with two engines, one ladder, one rescue truck, and two command units.  The first crew arrived to find heavy smoke on the second floor of the apartment complex. Firefighters also found the sprinkler system had activated and extinguished the fire in the kitchen. Firefighters worked to remove the smoke from the building and minimize the water damage. One apartment was damaged by the fire and two apartments sustained water damage, the Red Cross responded to assist the tenants. There were no injuries.

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory

Athens, GA – Fire in University of Georgia residence hall controlled with help from sprinkler system

UPDATE: University Housing sent a letter to Brumby Hall residents this morning at 8:42 a.m. with a report of the evacuation. The letter said the fire alarms went off due to “a fire in the trash room of Brumby Hall,” causing the sprinkler system to activate. The letter also said no dorms were damaged with smoke or water. No one was injured as a result of the fire, “thanks to the cooperation of residents and the action of housing staff and emergency personnel.”  “Security of residents is our utmost priority,” the email said. “Therefore residents are required to evacuate the building anytime the alarm sounds.”

ORIGINAL: At approximately 7 p.m. Monday night, the fire alarm in Brumby Residence Hall at the University of Georgia sounded. Students were stranded outside for over three hours after two additional fire alarms were sounded following the initial alarm. When students were evacuating once the alarm was sounded, a resident assistant was heard notifying students departing from the emergency exits, “No, it’s not a false alarm.”

Payton Eason, a freshman psychology major from Villa Rica and resident at Brumby, was worried after hearing that the fire alarms were not false. “I thought this was going to be just another false alarm that we have almost weekly at Brumby. Turns out, there’s actually smoke, and the hall is literally on fire. Now, we’ve been here for more than two hours, sitting out here stranded,” Eason said.

Eason explained she was working on homework when the alarm sounded. “I have lots of homework due tonight at 10 p.m…Unfortunately, all my books, notes, and Macbook are up in the dorm so I guess I’m just stuck here until it’s all clear,” Eason said.  By 8:45 p.m., the alarm was off, but students were still stranded outside waiting for the all-clear from authorities to reenter the building.  Taylor Johnson, a freshman biology major from Columbus, heard prior to being cleared to return to the residence halls that the first floor was flooded from trying to extinguish the fire.

“My friend received a message and said that someone threw something in the trash chute that caught fire. It caused the sprinklers to go off and now the first floor is flooded,” Johnson said. As of 10 p.m., students were still not allowed to reenter the residence hall. By around 10:50 p.m., students began making their way back to their dorms in Brumby.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Park Ridge, IL – Fire in trash chute at parking garage extinguished by sprinkler system

(No Media Coverage – Fire Department Reported) On February 12, 2017 at 5:09 p.m. the Park Ridge Fire Department was dispatched to 50 N. Northwest Highway for an activated fire alarm. Crews arrived on the scene within four (4) minutes and determined there was a possible fire in the trash room located in the parking garage.  Upon entering the trash room, there was water flowing from 4 sprinkler heads inside the trash chute.  These heads activated due to a fire of undetermined cause in the dumpster itself.  The fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system saving what could have been a large fire loss.  Crews checked for fire extension and damage.  There was minimal damage to the building from water and smoke.  No injuries were reported and all building fire protection systems were placed back in service that night.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Spokane, WA – Security video shows sprinkler system tackling fire at commercial building

A video captures the start of a commercial fire at downtown Spokane business and highlights the importance of having a working sprinkler system. 

It is fortunate that a security camera was positioned in such a way to capture the entire life cycle of this fire. It does not happen very often that fire departments get video that shows how a fire might start, how it progresses, and how it can be controlled in a true, unsupervised everyday environment.

“This video shows how something that starts out small can quickly escalate without the proper fire suppression systems in place,” says City of Spokane Fire Marshal Michael Miller. “If not for the working sprinkler, this fire could have been much worse. This is another example of why we stress the importance of installing and properly maintaining automatic fire suppression and detection systems.”

The video captures a fire that started on January 28, 2016 in the Symons Building (15 S. Howard St.), a four story commercial building. The first indication of a problem can be seen when there is a brief flicker from a light fixture that is located in a main floor storage room. Hot material begins to drip from the fixture to the floor level where it ignited some plastic and consequently moved into the adjacent wood wall. The sprinkler head activated and helped confine the fire to a small area. Fire crews also credit the business for having a clean and orderly storeroom which helped in not providing a lot of fuel to the fire in its earliest stage. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within 20 minutes. No injuries were reported. 

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