Apartment Building, Residential

Hartford, CT – Apartment kitchen fire contained by sprinkler system

A family of four has been relocated after a fire in their Hartford apartment on Tuesday morning, officials say. Firefighters were called to 4 Vine Street after a fire alarm activation notification. They found the sprinkler system contained the fire to the kitchen area and kept it from spreading in the second-floor apartment.

No one was injured. Fire officials say cabinets sustained moderate smoke and water damage. The fire marshal says the fire was accidental and originated from the stove.

Apartment Building, Residential

Wichita, KS – Sprinkler system keeps fire at apartment complex from spreading

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Fire crews have knocked out a fire at an apartment complex in Wichita. The fire started around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at an apartment complex located at 324 N. Emporia. Fire crews say the sprinkler system helped get the fire out and keep it from spreading.

Upon arrival, fire crews discovered the fire on 3rd floor of the building. Residents had self-evacuated. So far, there is no cause of fire. Some residents are being displaced and Westar Enegry is also shutting down power for time being as well.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Bellingham, WA – Sprinklers put out fire in chemistry building at Western Washington University

A chemical fire erupted in a Western Washington University chemistry building on Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 25. No one was injured, and the building was evacuated right after the fire broke out about 5:15 p.m., said WWU spokesman Paul Cocke.

Student Melany Fry was in room 370 of Morse Hall with six other students when the fire broke out. “We heard a big bang and a whoosh,” Fry said.

Fry said the fire started by a dry-solvent pump, which keeps water out of solvents. She didn’t think anybody was working with that pump at the time.

The flames were initially about 15 feet high, Fry said. All of the students got out quickly while somebody else tried putting the fire out with an extinguisher.

Firefighters responded and saw a plume coming from the building. They set up a perimeter far from the building to keep everyone away as they tried to determine what chemicals were involved.

The building’s sprinklers put out the fire. Firefighters broke out windows to ventilate the building, and conducted a search for anyone who might still be inside, though the building had been cleared. They later ordered an evacuation of the nearby biology building.

A hazardous materials team was brought in to examine the lab and ensure the scene was safe.

Jared Chang, another WWU student who was in the building at the time, described the chemicals the students were working with as “a bunch of nasty, organic solvents that you don’t want on fire.”

What caused the fire was under investigation Tuesday evening. No immediate damage estimate was available.

Apartment Building, Residential

Rochester, MN – Sprinkler system prevents apartment fire from spreading; No injuries reported

An apartment sprinkler system is being credited for preventing a more serious fire — and possibly injuries, officials said today.

A sprinkler activation alarm at 8:40 p.m. Tuesday sent Rochester fire crews to 2350 Valleyhigh Drive NW. The family, including children ages 4, 2 and 1, was outside when trucks arrived, said Larry Mueller, assistant fire marshal.

A woman in the home had been making pastries in an oil-filled pot on the stove, Mueller said. She left the kitchen for a moment, and when she returned found three- to four-foot flames coming from the pan.

The sprinkler system above the stove extinguished the fire, Mueller said, leaving only slight water damage to cabinets and nearby carpet.

“The sprinkler saved thousands of dollars in damage, and possibly the family,” he said.

Though the home was habitable, the Red Cross put the family up for the night because of the age of the children and the clean-up necessary, the report says.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Norfolk, VA – Overnight fire at Residence Inn controlled by sprinkler system

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Guests at a Norfolk motel were forced from their rooms overnight because of fire. Crews were called to the Residence Inn at 227 W. Brambleton Avenue around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities say there was fire in a laundry cart on the third floor. The sprinkler system had gone off before firefighters arrived. Some guests on the second and third floors were relocated to other rooms.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Mishawaka, IN – Factory fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Mishawaka firefighters are crediting a sprinkler system for extinguishing a fire at a factory Tuesday afternoon. Crews were called to Sampson Fiberglass in the 2400 block of Home Street around 3 p.m.

One worker suffered minor smoke inhalation, but did not seek medical treatment at the scene. Dispatch did confirm, however, that one patient was later transported to the hospital nearly two hours after the incident. A fire investigator is on the scene searching for what started the fire.

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Waipahu, HI – Kitchen fire in high-rise apartment building extinguished by sprinkler

Unattended food on a stove caused the evacuation of the high-rise building Tuesday night.  The fire was reported at 9:36 p.m. at the Plantation Town Apartments located at 94-979 Kauolu Place.

Seven fire companies staffed with 23 personnel arrived at 9:42 p.m. to find residents leaving the 12-story apartment building. Firefighters discovered the kitchen fire had been extinguished by an activated fire sprinkler.  The activated sprinkler system caused significant flooding to ten additional units.

Paramedics treated a resident injured evacuating the building and took the resident to the hospital.  The fire was isolated to the kitchen area of a fourth floor unit.  Damage is estimated at $5,000 to the structure and $2,000 to its contents.

The water damage had not been evaluated Tuesday night.  No other injuries were reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

Lexington, KY – Sprinkler system confines apartment fire to attic; No injuries

A passerby spotted smoke coming from the roof of a building at the Forest Creek Apartments on Appian Crossing Way and called 911 around 6:30 a.m.  Everybody made it out of the building safely.

Firefighters say the fire started in the attic and sprinklers confined it there until crews arrived. The fire did not cause much structural damage, but some of the residents’ belongings did sustain some water damage. Officials say 12 families live in the building, but the fire only impacted two.

Firefighters say it appears the fire was likely caused by an electrical problem. They say the sprinkler system likely saved the building.

Apartment Building, Residential

Rapid City, SD – Sprinkler stops fire on apartment balcony from spreading into unit

A Saturday fire that started on an apartment unit’s balcony was stopped almost completely before it entered the unit, thanks to a sprinkler that activated in a bedroom.

According to a press release from the Rapid City Fire Department, at 12:34 p.m. Saturday, firefighters went to the Homestead Garden Apartments at 4831 Homestead St.

Everything on the balcony was damaged, the release said, the windows between the balcony and bedroom were broken, and the window blinds were melted.

But the sprinkler in the bedroom doused the fire before it could cause more damage, and there were no injuries. No cause had been determined as of late Monday afternoon.

Apartment Building, Residential

Vancouver, BC, Canada – No injuries in early morning apartment blaze after sprinklers successfully activate

More than 40 residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside were displaced from their homes Saturday after an early morning apartment fire.

Capt. Jonathan Gormick, a spokesman for Vancouver Fire and Rescue, said staff with emergency social services were working with the residents to find them accommodation until they can return to their apartments, likely next week.

The fire broke out in the attic of the apartment complex on East Cordova Street at around 5 a.m. Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and flames on the roof. Gormick said the building’s sprinkler system was activated and all the residents escaped unharmed.

Firefighters put out the fire before it damaged any of the suites, however he said many of them sustained water damage from the sprinklers. The cause of the blaze is unknown and firefighters continue to investigate.

 

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