Tag Archives: Afternoon (12pm-6pm)

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Laconia, NH – Fire in circuit courthouse contained with help from sprinkler system

A fire in a trash can caused the evacuation of the Laconia Circuit Court Monday afternoon.  Meredith’s Vikki Fogg said she opened the door to a ground floor restroom to be met by flames. She told her grandson Nathan, 7, to go tell the bailiff conducting security screenings at the courthouse entrance that there was a fire.

“It was really going,” said bailiff Bill Barnard who grabbed a five-pound dry chemical extinguisher and doused the fire.  Court was in session at the time the fire broke out and security personnel had smelled smoke and were searching all three floors of the building for the source when Fogg opened the door to the first-floor restroom at the end of the hallway between the offices for the probate and family court and the circuit court.

The fire triggered the building’s smoke alarms but not the sprinkler system. Laconia Fire Chief Ken Erickson said his department responded to the fire alarm activation and were advised en route to 26 Academy St. there was smoke in the building, and that security personnel were looking for the source.

“Any time you have a report of a fire in a courthouse it’s of concern. It’s a government building and you have to think whether something else might be going on. Someone trying to create a diversion to get someone out or a disgruntled person trying to lash out,” Erickson said.

Courthouse staff directed people to leave the building after smelling smoke and then joined them gathering in the rear parking lot as firefighters arrived. Fans were set up to help clear the air. Damage was limited to the ruined trash can and to the mess made by the dry powder from the chemical extinguisher.

Security cameras are mounted throughout the building and bailiffs were confident that recorded video images coupled with observations made by people in the courthouse would lead to the source of the fire.

 

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Stamford, CT – High rise apartment fire contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

The occupants of four apartments at 66 Summer St. were displaced Sunday by a small fire that broke out in the kitchen of a sixth-floor unit of the 14-story building, according to the Stamford Fire Department. No one was reported injured in the fire shortly after 2:30 p.m., which drew a major response from the fire department. At 2:39 p.m. the Stamford fire department received an automatic alarm notification for the building, followed by reports of smoke on the sixth floor, according to Deputy Fire Chief Pat Tripodi.

The fire was quickly doused by the sprinkler system of the building, but firefighters sounded a second alarm, bringing a total of five engines, two trucks, a heavy-rescue vehicle and a deputy chief to the scene based on finding smoke on the sixth floor, according to the fire department. The sprinkler system contained the fire to the kitchen area where it started, Tripodi said. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the city’s Fire Marshal’s Office. The occupants of the four apartments were being relocated, according to the fire department.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Jeffersonville, IN – Fire at automotive supplier extinguished by sprinkler system

Employees at Autoneum in Jeffersonville’s River Ridge Commerce Center were evacuated last Thursday after a minor fire in one of the machines.  The Jeffersonville Fire Department responded to a report of a structure fire at the plant, which makes insulation parts and carpet for GM products, just after 3 p.m. When they arrived, the sprinkler system has extinguished the fire and employees had been evacuated.

Fire crews checked to make sure there was no spread of fire and secured the scene before employees could return to work, Jeffersonville Fire Department Sgt. Justin Ames.  Ames said that although this is the fifth fire the company has had since opening and the second or third this year, he doesn’t have concerns about the safety of the facility.  “It’s common for the work that they do, but they have a great response plan,” he said. “We’ve preplanned this building so we’re prepared.” Ames said the fire department meets with Autoneum owners several times a year to revisit safety protocol.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Manassas, VA – Days Inn fire sparked by ice maker contained with help from sprinkler system

A third-floor ice maker sparked a Tuesday evening fire at the Days Inn on Centreville Road in Manassas, displacing 55 adults and three children saying at the hotel. Fire crews were called to the hotel in the 7600 block of Centreville Road at 5:28 p.m. and arrived to find fire on the third floor. “Due to activation of the building’s smoke alarm and sprinkler system, occupants were alerted to the fire” allowing everyone to get out safely, Prince William fire and rescue said in a news release. The sprinkler system help contain the blaze, which firefighters able to quickly extinguish, the release said. The building has been posted as unsafe. All of the hotel’s occupants were moved to another hotel. Investigators determined that the fire began in an ice maker on the third floor.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Le Mars, IA – Sprinklers contain fire after explosion at manufacturing plant; No injuries

A compressor fire shut down IML Containers in Le Mars Monday afternoon, causing an undetermined amount of damage to the manufacturer of plastic food containers. 

Le Mars fire chief David Schipper said the Le Mars and Orange City fire departments were called at 4:22 p.m. to IML, at 1620 24th St. SW in Le Mars, for a compressor that had caught fire, and what was described as an “explosion” in the building. 

IML employees stood watching as the firefighters went in and out of the building, deploying water hoses and venting the smoke. None of the employees or firefighters were hurt in the fire. 

 

“Everybody did evacuate safely, we did an accountability check, and everybody made it out of the building just fine,” Schipper said. 

The building was damaged to an unknown extent by the heavy smoke, which Schipper said came from burning oil in the compressor. Additionally, electrical and water infrastructure were damaged, and the compressor that caught fire was destroyed. 

“It’s going to be quite a while before this place is back up and in business,” he said. 

Schipper credited the building’s sprinkler system for helping to control the fire. 

“Once again, sprinklers do save a lot, they did contain the fire for us,” he said. 

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Osage Beach, MO – Electrical fire at resort hotel suppressed by sprinkler system; No injuries and minimal damage reported

A worker was repairing an electrical circuit in the laundry area when a short resulted at the junction box where he was working. The power surge jumped to another electrical run which energized a nearby gas line, causing pin holes in the gas line and causing a fire. There was minimal damage resulting from a fire at the Inn at Grand Glaize about 2:07 p.m. Tuesday in Osage Beach.

A worker was repairing an electrical circuit in the laundry area when a short resulted at the junction box where he was working. The power surge jumped to another electrical run which energized a nearby gas line, causing pin holes in the gas line and causing a fire. The fire was held in place and extinguished by a fire sprinkler system.  There were no injuries to either fire personnel or employees.  Responding were fire personnel from Osage Beach, Lake Ozark, Sunrise Beach and Mid County.  Firefighters cleared the scene by 3:30 p.m.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Hammond, LA – Arson fire at Walmart store contained by sprinkler system

A man is in custody and charged with arson in connection with two fires Saturday afternoon at Northshore Walmart stores. Louisiana State Fire Marshal Chief Butch Browning says 45-year-old Larry Paul Schouest Jr. started the fires at the Hammond and Amite Walmart stores as a distraction after stealing laptop computers from the stores.

Officials say the fires were set in the store’s pool chemical areas, but the sprinkler systems kept the fires from getting out of control. Fire crews evacuated the stores. No one was hurt. Fire marshal deputies say they also obtained a confession from Schouest that he set a fire on June 27 at the Ponchatoula Walmart, where he also stole laptops.  Browning says Schouest was charged with two counts of aggravated arson and six counts of felony theft. He was booked into the Tangipahoa Parish prison.

Other Business

New Bedford, MA – Fire officials credit sprinkler system in controlling fire at uniform and linen company

New Bedford Fire Department was called to a two-alarm commercial fire at 335 Church Street. The building, which houses “Clean Uniforms and More” went up in flames just after 5pm on Saturday. Officials say no one was in the building at the time of the fire. When crews arrived, there was heavy smoke and active sprinklers inside the facility.  The New Bedford Fire Chief on scene says the sprinklers made the difference.

New Bedford Engines 9 and 8 are both stationed about a mile away from the scene, but engine 9 didn’t respond. It wasn’t in service Saturday because of budget restrictions.  The city saves money with a rotating schedule for closing a station daily for a 24-hour period.

“I would have been happy to have four additional bodies on scene in order to deal with coverage and whatnot, but again I have to deal with the fiscal responsibilities that I’m given. The resources that I’m given I have to work with,” said New Bedford Fire Chief, Michael Gomes. Officials told NBC 10 because of the working sprinkler system Engine 9 not being in service wasn’t really a factor.  Investigators believe the fire started in the area of a sorting table and was mostly contained.  The cause of the fire remains under investigation but officials are not calling this fire suspicious.

Apartment Building, Residential

Reading, PA – Fire in apartment kitchen put out by sprinkler system

A kitchen fire Saturday in a third-floor unit forced the evacuation of Penns Crossing Apartments in Spring Township, officials reported. Fire crews responded at 12:35 p.m. to a report of smoke in an apartment at 1400 W. Wyomissing Court.  Troy Hatt, township deputy fire marshal, said a small kitchen fire was extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system.

“The important thing,” Hatt said, “is that the sprinkler system worked.” Occupants of the complex, which has one- and two-bedroom units occupied by tenants 62 years or older, were allowed back into their apartments in late afternoon, Hatt said.  The sprinkler and alarm systems had to be reset before occupants could return to the building off Route 724 between Sinking Spring and Lincoln Park.  There was no significant fire damage, Hatt said, but some apartments sustained water damage. Construction crews were on site Saturday evening.  Township authorities were assisted by fire and rescue units from surrounding municipalities.

Apartment Building, Residential

Mercer Island, WA – Apartment kitchen fire extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Shortly after noon on July 6, Mercer Island and Bellevue Fire Department units responded to the Mercer Apartments in downtown Mercer Island for a fire that started in one of the unit’s kitchens, and was ultimately extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system.

A fire started on a stove, activating the building’s fire alarm system and initiating the response. The fire extended into the cabinetry above, and produced a large amount of smoke that filled the unit and the adjacent hallway, on the fifth floor of the building. The activated sprinklers caused a heavy water flow into the hallway, adjacent units and through the ceiling of multiple units on the floor below.

Even though the fire was completely extinguished by the automatic sprinklers, a coordinated ventilation and salvage effort was still needed by the multiple fire units that responded. Occupants were displaced for more than two hours while the smoke and water was cleared. Nobody was allowed back into the affected areas of the building until the atmosphere was determined safe through the fire department’s air monitoring equipment. No injuries were reported, and investigations are ongoing.