Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Evansville, IN – Sprinkler system helps to contain fire at industrial building

Firefighters Wednesday responded to a roof fire in part of the former Whirlpool building on U.S. 41 North now used as a warehouse.

Investigator Richard Howard said the alarm came in at 11:30 a.m. and when the first firefighters arrived two minutes later, there was heavy smoke coming from the roof area and some smoke from inside the building. Nobody was hurt in the fire and building sprinklers functioned normally.

The portion of the building where the fire occurred is used by GAF Materials Corporation to store asphalt shingles and other roofing products, Howard said. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

“The reports that we got from the people inside were that they had been smelling smoke for about an hour but they couldn’t locate the source,” Howard said. “They heard a pop and when they looked up it was the sprinkler head kicking off and that’s when they actually saw fire in upper portions of the building in the roof area.”

“They evacuated the building and called us. So, we do know that we have an operating sprinkler system inside. We are assuming right now that it helped suppress the fire, keep it under control until we could mop up,” Howard said. Howard said the cause of the fire was under investigation.

“I know that we had an incident here last week that was electrical in nature. I can tell you that is one thing I will be looking at but we also had a report that there was a crew on the roof up above that was on the roof working. So I have to find out if they were in that area and what they were doing,” Howard said.

Workers were able to go back inside Wednesday afternoon. “The building hasn’t been destroyed or anything,” he said. “There is smoke damage throughout the building and it was even forced into other areas besides their area,” Howard said. However, he said the industrial steel construction of the building made structural damage unlikely.

Whirlpool shut down refrigerator production at the Evansville plant in June 2010. The manufacturer maintained its refrigeration product design center at the site for a few years before announcing it would move that work to its Benton Harbor, Michigan headquarters. The last Whirlpool employees vacated the Evansville site in 2014.

Evansville developer The Kunkel Group acquired the Whirlpool building in 2011, rebranding it as a multi-tenant industrial park known as Park 41.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Midlothian, VA – Fire in storage closet at high school extinguished by sprinkler

Fire broke out Wednesday night at Clover Hill High School in Midlothian, but Chesterfield authorities said the school’s sprinkler system was able to put it out. According to authorities at the scene, a pallet inside a storage closet caught fire, but a sprinkler in the closet was able to put out the fire.

Chesterfield Fire crews reported to the scene at the new high school at 1300 Kelly Green Lane due to a report of a small fire. The cause is under investigation, but the school day will go on as planned on Thursday.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Meridian, MS – Sprinkler system helps save Outback Steakhouse

An automatic sprinkler system apparently did enough to help save Meridian from losing its Outback Steakhouse.  Meridian Fire Chief Anthony Clayton said Tuesday that the sprinkler system did its job well enough to aid the arrival of the Meridian Fire Department, which extinguished the Monday afternoon fire at the steakhouse located at the Meridian Crossroads.

“Had it not been for the automatic sprinkler system, the building would have burned up,” Clayton said.  Clayton said his investigative team concluded the fire was caused by corrosion in its gas line.

“It had been caused from the cleaning solvents used,” he said. “The solvents had corroded the line and it failed. It ignited. Because the automatic sprinkler system activated, it kept the damage to a minimum. It allowed us time to get there and put it out.”

Clayton said the restaurant suffered smoke damage and could be reopened in a couple of days.

 

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Armstrong, BC, Canada – Sprinklers help control electrical fire at wood mill

The sprinkler system and an employee with a fire extinguisher quickly dealt with an electrical fire at the Tolko Industries mill in Armstrong this afternoon.

Fire crews responded to what they thought was a structure fire at about 1:25 p.m., Monday, March 30, but it turned out to be an electrical motor fire.

“The sprinkler head tripped and they used an extinguisher on it,” Armstrong Fire Chief Ian Cummings says. “It turned out to be very minor.”

Fire crews brought out their fans to get the smoke out of the affected building.  No one was hurt.

Other - Retail, Retail

Galloway Twp, NJ – Sprinkler system activates to help limit damage in fire at nail salon

At 12:21 p.m., police received a 911 call reporting a structure fire at Lucky Nails located on New York Road.  Emergency personnel found determined a camp stove was being used inside the building and set the contents of a room on fire, police said.

The sprinkler system was activated inside the building and the building sustained smoke and water damage, police said.  An investigation by Galloway Township Fire Marshal Ron Garbutt and Officer Bill Schroer determined the fire to be accidental in nature.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Hamilton, ON, Canada – Fire in garbage chute at high rise apartment building extinguished by sprinklers

Residents were evacuated from a downtown apartment building for about half-an-hour Monday to allow Hamilton firefighters to deal with a fire in the garbage chute.

Firefighters were called to 150 Sanford Avenue North shortly after 8:30 p.m. Monday.  Fire department spokesperson Claudio Mostacci said by the time firefighters had arrived, the sprinkler system had extinguished the fire.

 The service sent 11 vehicles to the scene. Some firefighters remained on the scene to deal with possible “hot spots” in the garbage.  Mostacci said no one was hurt and there was no damage.

While he could not say what caused the fire, Mostacci said the fires are often started by people accidentally throwing cigarette ashes down the chute.  He reminds tenants in apartment buildings to be careful.

Apartment Building, Restaurant

San Antonio, TX – Restaurant fire in mixed-use residential building suppressed by sprinkler system

San Antonio fire officials responded to the fire just after 2 a.m. at the Saltgrass Steakhouse on River Street near E. Crockett and N. Presa streets. The restaurant’s sprinkler system kept the fire contained and damage was limited to the kitchen. 

Firefighters said the flames started in the river level kitchen at the restaurant and appeared to be electrical in nature.  About 25 residents from about 15 apartments above the restaurant were evacuated due to smoke, but later allowed to go back inside. No injuries were reported.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Valdosta, GA – Sprinklers put out fire at South Georgia Pecan warehouse

Around 12:30, a fire broke out inside South Georgia Pecan’s warehouse on E. Hill Ave.  Valdosta Fire Marshal Cpt. James Clinkscales said the fire started because someone was using a propane torch carelessly as they were preparing some pallets for shipping. “Upon arrival, fire was out.  Thank God for the sprinkler system that kicked in” Cpt. Clinkscales explained.  The building was evacuated as a precaution, but no one was hurt and employees were able to go back in after the fire.

Apartment Building, Residential

Gillette, WY – Sprinkler system extinguishes early morning fire in apartment building

The Campbell County Fire Department responded to 1926 Harvest Moon in Gillette for a fire alarm activation at 6:12 a.m. Friday. The call was upgraded to an active structure fire after neighbors reported seeing flames in the rear of the building. Upon arrival, crews found a four-plex apartment building with fire and heat damage in the back porch area of a lower unit, according to a fire department incident report. A fire sprinkler had activated and extinguished the fire before the department’s arrival.

Department Store, Retail

San Leandro, CA – Walmart fire contained with help from sprinkler system; No injuries

A two-alarm fire required the evacuation of the Walmart store on Davis Street on Saturday night, fire officials said.  Alameda County Fire Department spokeswoman Aisha Knowles said the store’s sprinkler system activated, and the entire store was evacuated. 

The fire broke out about 7:30 p.m. in the kitchen of the McDonald’s restaurant inside the store at 1919 Davis St.   Firefighters had knocked down the blaze by 8 p.m., but the store remained empty half an hour later.  Nobody was hurt.

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