Tag Archives: Afternoon (12pm-6pm)

Apartment Building, Residential

Madison, WI – Apartment building fire contained to room of origin by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Ten people living in Downtown apartment building were looking for other places to stay temporarily, after a small fire set off an automatic sprinkler system. The fire was reported at about 12:40 p.m. Wednesday at the Uncommon Apartments in the 100 block of North Bedford Street, the Madison Fire Department said.  The fire was in an apartment on the fourth floor, but most of the displaced residents lived on the third floor.  Nobody was hurt.  “An automatic sprinkler activation kept the fire contained to the room of origin, which suffered smoke and fire damage,” said fire department spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster. “A resident reported a candle was burning in the room prior to the fire.”  No damage estimate was given.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Shelton, CT – Kitchen fire at rehab facility extinguished by sprinkler system

On Nov. 27 at 4:01 p.m. the Echo Hose Co. #1, Huntington Co. #3 and White Hills Co. #5 responded to a fire alarm sounding at the Shelton Lakes Convalescent rehab Center at #5 lake Road. Upon arrival firefighters were made aware of a fire that had occurred in the kitchen of the facility. The fire started when a pan of liquid ignited on a stove top. The fire activated several fire sprinkler heads which extinguished the fire but caused water damage to the kitchen area. Firefighters remained on the scene to check for any fire extension and assistance facility employees. Two engines, one rescue truck and one ladder truck responded.

Other - Storage / Warehouse, Storage / Warehouse

Canton, OH – Fire at industrial distribution business contained to area of origin by sprinkler system

Stacked cardboard boxes placed too close to radiant ceiling heaters caused a fire that did about $180,000 in damage to engine compartments in the warehouse area at Detroit Diesel on Monday, firefighters said. The smoke also impacted thousands of items stored there by Goodwill of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio, rendering those items “too damaged to be sold in any of the stores,” said Robyn Steinmetz, vice president of marketing at Goodwill.

The damage left Goodwill pleading Tuesday for more donations from the public. No one was injured in the 12:09 p.m. blaze at 818 Mulberry Road SE, although firefighters were initially told that someone may have been trapped inside. Battalion Chief Jeff Magee said in a news release that everyone had made it safely out of the burning building.

“On arrival, units found a working structure fire at a large commercial building housing Detroit Diesel industrial supplies,” Magee said, noting that the large warehouse contains diesel engine components.

“The components were contained in cardboard boxes that had been stacked vertically and were too close to radiant ceiling heaters,” Magee said. “When the heaters activated due to the cold weather, they ignited the cardboard boxes. Two sprinkler heads activated and confined the fire to area of origin. Firefighters pulled a hoseline to extinguish the fire that could not be reached by the sprinklers.”

The structure wasn’t damaged, but about $180,000 in damage was done to the engine compartments, Magee said. The impact also hit Goodwill.

“Goodwill’s business model relies on donations from the community, which are sold in Goodwill stores, with the revenue helping to support local programs and services that help residents train for, find and keep good jobs,” Steinmetz said in a news release Tuesday.

The donated items that had been inside the warehouse would have been rotated throughout the stores in Stark, Tuscarawas, Carroll, Jefferson and Harrison counties in Ohio and Brooke and Hancock counties in West Virginia, she said.

“Stark County has always been supportive of Goodwill, and we are asking everyone to continue that tradition right now by making it a priority to drop off those donations you’ve been meaning to drop off, or using this time to clean out some closets, basements, or attics in time for the holidays,” said Doug Widrig, Goodwill’s vice president of retail operations. “It will feel good for you, and it will help Goodwill recover from this unfortunate event.”

Steinmetz pointed out that Goodwill stores and donation locations can be found online at http://www.goodwillgoodskills.org/.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Searsmont, ME – Sawmill fire suppressed with help from sprinkler system; No injuries and minimal damage

Firefighters from several towns responded to Robbins Lumber Co. the afternoon of Nov. 14 for a reported fire in one of the facility’s buildings. Crews from Appleton, Lincolnville, Montville, Morrill and Searsmont responded to the incident, which was reported shortly before 3 p.m. Catherine Robbins-Halsted said the fire started in a sawmill building on the property. The exact cause of the fire is still being determined.  She said there was minor water damage in the building, as well as some damage to wiring. Robbins-Halsted credited the building’s sprinkler system and company employees, as well as local fire departments, with helping to suppress the fire.  No one was injured, she said.  Robbins-Halsted said the company will be open for business tomorrow.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Marietta, OH – Sprinklers activate to help fight fire at supermarket bakery

An afternoon fire leaves the Giant Eagle in Marietta closed until further notice. According to the Marietta Fire Department, the oven in the bakery caught on fire shortly after 1:00 PM.

The employees say the oven had a sudden spike in temperature, so they shut it off. Then, there was a minor explosion. The sprinkler system was activated and the fire department arrived on scene.The store was evacuated and is closed until further notice to assess the damage.

Fortunately, there were no injuries.

Other - Residential, Residential

Victoria, BC, Canada – Fire at homeless shelter extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries

Victoria Fire crews and police were on scene at the Central Care Home at 844 Johnson Street after a fire broke out late this afternoon.

The shelter, operated by the Portland Hotel Society, is home to many former residents of Victoria’s tent city.

Emergency crews responded to a report of smoke coming from a suite on the fourth floor just after 4 p.m.

Upon arrival, crews confirmed that the fire had been extinguished by the sprinkler system.

But there is extensive water damage in parts of the building.

Fire officials say no one should be displaced because there are empty units that can be used to house those affected.

There is no word yet on what caused the fire and there were no reports of any injuries.

Apartment Building, Residential

Stamford, CT – Fire started by unattended space heater contained by sprinkler system

A fire caused by an unattended space heater in a Pequot Drive apartment early Friday afternoon was mostly contained by an overhead sprinkler system.

The sprinkler system brought the fire completely under control by the time firefighters arrived at the Southwood Square Apartments about 2 p.m. Friday, fire Capt. Paul Newman said.

Newman said no one was in the apartment at the time and there were no reported injuries. Newman said because of the sprinkler system, most of the damage was contained to the bedroom with smoke damage to a hallway.

Chief Fire Marshall Charles Spaulding said just before the fire was reported, a man using a space heater in the apartment went to the grocery store.

While he was gone, the space heater caught an adjacent chair on fire, Spaulding said.

The man has declined help from the American Red Cross and Spaulding said he could be back into his apartment as early as Monday.

Apartment Building, Residential

Lansdale, PA – No injuries as sprinkler system contains third-floor apartment fire

A kitchen fire inside 536 Station Square Blvd. in the Station Square Apartment Homes in Upper Gwynedd was knocked down in five minutes, but it has left two apartments uninhabitable.

Upper Gwynedd Fire Department Assistant Chief Chris Sharkey said the kitchen fire started in a third-floor apartment in the 500 building.

“The fire marshal is still investigating the cause,” Sharkey said.

He said the fire was isolated to the corner kitchen island.

“The sprinkler system did a good job in containing the fire,” he said.

Three windows were broken out to ventilate the fire and smoke.

“Smoke had banked down to about a foot off the ground,” he said.

The fire was knocked down within five minutes, he said.

“The neighbor called it in,” he said.

The entire 500 building — 18 apartments in all — were evacuated.

Both the third-floor apartment and the second-floor apartment are inhabitable; the former due to water and smoke damage and the latter, 526 Station Square Blvd., due to water damage.

No one was home at the time of the fire. The elderly female renter was called to the scene, consoled by Station Square management and Upper Gwynedd Township Police Officer Ted Caiola.

There were no injuries.

Assisting Upper Gwynedd Fire Department at the scene were Fairmount Fire Co., North Penn Vol. Fire Co., Hatfield Vol. Fire Co. and Volunteer Medical Service Corps of Lansdale.

Apartment Building, Residential

Indiana, PA – Kitchen fire at off-campus apartment complex extinguished by sprinkler system

Damage was confined to a first-floor apartment in a student housing complex near downtown Indiana early Monday afternoon when a fire started in a kitchen and set off a sprinkler, a fire official said. (Jamie Empfield/Gazette photo)

The Indiana Fire Association responded at 12:15 p.m. to a general alarm call at a Philadelphia Square property on the southeast corner of Philadelphia and 10th streets.

The fire began in some grease on a stove then flashed up to the ceiling when a tenant threw water on the fire, said Assistant Chief Ron Moreau of the Indiana Fire Association.

The flame scorched the wall and activated the fire suppression sprinkler, which extinguished the flames, Moreau said.

Indiana officials canceled the calls for backup help from the Homer City, Black Lick and Marion Center fire departments.

Moreau said no one was hurt.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Thurmont, MD – Fire at catalog business controlled with assistance from sprinkler system

Frederick County Fire and Rescue responded to a building fire around noon on Saturday on Apples Church Road in Thurmont, Md.  Official said smoke was coming from the top of a building which led neighbors to call 911. Fire officials said that the sprinkler system went on which helped calm down the fire, but fire crews did use fire hoses. Locals said that a catalog business is located in that building and the property owner and businesses owner was on site. No one was harmed in this incident

“Once the smoke gets cleared out then we will go in and make sure that the fire is completely out, there is no areas and the Fire Marshall will do their determination and figure out what caused the fire,” said Battalion Chief, Doug Wallick.

This is an open investigation.