Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill Springfield, OR – Sawmill fire contained with help from sprinkler system March 7, 2016 viking210 Twenty-one firefighters responded Wednesday afternoon to a fire in the planing mill section of the Rosboro Lumber Co. mill at 2509 Main St. The fire was reported at 3:18 p.m. and declared under control by 4:30 p.m., Eugene Springfield Fire Department officials said. The planing mill section has been shut down, but the rest of the mill is operational, officials said. No employees or firefighters were reported injured. The cause of the fire, and estimated damage loss, were not immediately known. The mill’s fire sprinkler system helped control the fire, Meigs said, but firefighters had to use a thermal imaging system to spot isolated cases where the fire was spreading through the ceiling. Battalion Chief Ben Meigs said the amount of sawdust in the mill may have contributed to the spread of the fire, which “traveled up the walls, and up the ceilings.”
Primary / Secondary School, School / University Cambridge, ON, Canada – Fire at high school extinguished by sprinkler system March 7, 2016 viking210 Fire crews were called to Preston High School shortly after 1 p.m., after being notified of fire alarms going off inside the building. When they arrived, they found that the school had been evacuated. According to Cambridge Fire Department platoon Chief Brad Churchill, crews entered the building to find that its sprinkler system had extinguished the fire, but heavy smoke persisted in a corridor and stairwell at the back of the building. One staff member was taken to hospital, to be treated for symptoms of smoke inhalation. Firefighters spent much of the afternoon at the school, ventilating the building. After being allowed back in to pick up their belongings, students were sent home for the rest of the afternoon. Churchill said the evacuation went off “like clockwork” because the school regularly practiced fire drills. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Apartment Building, Residential Portland, ME – Apartment kitchen fire suppressed by sprinkler system; No injuries reported March 7, 2016 viking210 A section of Congress Street in Portland was shut down for several hours last Tuesday after a kitchen fire set off a sprinkler system in a downtown apartment building. Deputy Fire Chief John Everett said a flash fire broke out on a stove in a fourth-floor kitchen at 439 Congress St. around 2 p.m. Though the fire caused minor damage, it set off the sprinkler system in the Metropolitan Apartments. Everett said water from the fire suppression system caused damage to the kitchen and two apartments below it as well as to businesses located on the first floor. Firefighters spent more than three hours in the building vacuuming up water and covering items that were damaged by the water. Congress Street between Elm and Temple streets remained closed for more than three hours.
Residential High Rise, Townhouse / Condominium Highland Beach, FL – Fire at oceanfront high-rise condominium building controlled with help from sprinkler system March 6, 2016 viking210 Delray Beach Fire Rescue was called to an oceanfront Highland Beach high-rise condominium last Sunday afternoon when a fire started in a fourth-floor unit. No one was injured in the fire, according to Delray Beach Fire Rescue spokesman Capt. Kevin Saxton. “The fire is out, but there is significant water damage to the building because of the sprinkler activation and our suppression effort,” Saxton said. Saxton said he did not yet know what started the fire in the unit at the Wiltshire House Condominiums, 2909 South Ocean Blvd. The call alerting the fire was made at about 3:45 p.m.
Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant Myrtle Beach, SC – Cooking fire at extended stay hotel extinguished by sprinkler system March 4, 2016 viking210 A small fire sparked by french fries cooking on a stove in a first-floor hotel room at the Suburban Extended Stay Hotel in Myrtle Beach led to smoke inhalation and an evacuation Monday afternoon. The Myrtle Beach Fire Department was dispatched to the hotel at 730 Frontage Road E. at 1:18 p.m. for a fire alarm. “The first unit on scene found smoke in room 145 and then they requested structure (fire) response,” said Battalion Chief Ian Maxwell with the Myrtle Beach Fire Department. A sprinkler system in the hotel extinguished the fire, he said. Several units were on scene Monday afternoon dealing with the water mitigation issues that remained after the emergency that evacuated residents and left one guest with minor smoke inhalation. The guest was treated on scene. No other injuries were reported.
Apartment Building, Residential Fayetteville, NC – Apartment balcony fire contained with help from sprinkler system; No injuries March 3, 2016 viking210 Fayetteville firefighters are investigating a fire that broke out in an apartment building Monday afternoon, a Fayetteville Fire Department news release said. Firefighters responded to an apartment fire at 12:38 p.m. in the 2800 block of Amelia Drive, off of Levy Drive, off of Robeson Street, the release said. The apartment complex is near Ashley Elementary School. Firefighters arrived and found a fire on the second floor balcony of the three-story apartment building, the release said. Firefighters contained the fire to the exterior of the building with assistance from the fire sprinkler system, the release said. There were no injuries and no families were displaced by the fire, the release said. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill Merritt, BC, Canada – Sprinklers help contain sawmill fire; Operations resume same day March 1, 2016 viking210 Merritt Fire Rescue responded to a fire at the Tolko sawmill around 1:30 Saturday afternoon. Fire Chief Dave Tompkinson says a hydraulic oil tank was on fire. “Prior to firefighters arriving, the sprinkler system had activated. The sawmill employees had actioned the fire with extinguishers and a hose line,” says Tompkinson. The fire was inside the the plant, and spread to some machinery above. Tomkinson says, as the fire department was leaving, the sawmill was already getting back up and running. The cause of the fire is unknown.
Apartment Building, Residential Vicksburg, MS – Sprinkler system keeps apartment kitchen fire from spreading; No injuries February 29, 2016 viking210 Food burning on a stove was the cause of a fire early Friday afternoon that heavily damaged the kitchen of a third floor apartment at Carmel Manor, 910 Bowman St., Vicksburg Fire Chief Charles Atkins said. He said firefighters were called about 1:09 p.m. He said a sprinkler system in the apartment managed to keep the fire from spreading and contained it to the kitchen area. He said the apartment, an adjacent apartment and a second floor apartment had water damage. No one was injured.
Other Business, Residential Oakland, CA – Sprinkler activates to help control fire in mixed use building February 25, 2016 viking210 Firefighters quickly extinguished a small structure fire Tuesday afternoon in Oakland near the Fruitvale BART station, according to authorities. Crews were dispatched to a building in the 1200 block of 37th Avenue at 4:04 p.m. on report of a fire. A single room was burning on the second floor of a three-story structure with residential units above commercial space on the ground floor. The fire was put out by the first arriving crews and a lone sprinkler head that activated, according to firefighters. Further details were not immediately available.
Other - Retail, Retail Anchorage, AK – Sprinkler system helps firefighters contain fire at auto repair shop February 20, 2016 viking210 A sprinkler system helped firefighters quickly control a fire at Alaska Transmission and Gear near Arctic Boulevard and Dowling Road, the department says. “When we arrived, there was just light smoke showing,” Anchorage Fire Department spokesman John See said of the 12:49 p.m. fire at 5901 Arctic Boulevard. The flames were contained to contents inside the business and did not necessarily burn the structure, See said. The fire was under control within minutes, he said. It’s unclear how the fire began.
