Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility Orleans, MA – Sprinklers assist firefighters in controlling challenging recycling plant fire September 9, 2015 viking210 Firefighters from the Lower Cape and Mid-Cape areas were tied up for hours after a pile of mattresses caught fire inside a recycling plant Saturday. Around 1 p.m., rescuers responded to the Daniels Recycling Center building on Giddiah Hill Road after employees at the plant unsuccessfully tried to squelch the nearly ceiling-high pile of mattresses set to be recycled, Orleans Fire Chief Anthony Pike said. The cause of the two-alarm fire was unknown, Pike added. Firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus entered the warehouse and mostly knocked down the fire, which didn’t appear to damage the building, Pike said. But because the mattresses and other debris were so compact, workers from the plant took front-end loaders and pulled pile after pile of the debris out of the building to the edge of the plant’s parking lot to be hosed down, Orleans Deputy Chief Geof Deering said. The Red Cross was on scene with drinks and snacks for the rescuers, and one firefighter was being evaluated for exhaustion, Dennis Deputy Chief Robert Brown said. The sprinkler system in the warehouse worked to help keep the fire from spreading, Pike said. Fire crews from Dennis, Eastham, Brewster, and Harwich aided Orleans at the scene. Crews from as far as Yarmouth were called in to cover the responding departments’ empty fire stations.
Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant Duluth, GA – Cooking fire at Extended Stay America hotel extinguished by sprinkler system September 9, 2015 viking210 A Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services spokesman said firefighters were called to the Extended Stay America at 3390 Venture Parkway at 3:38 p.m. to respond to a fire on the third floor, only to find a second fire had also broken out on the hotel’s sixth floor. “Crews made their way up to the third floor to find that a fire had occurred inside the room and that an occupant had extinguished the fire prior to (the fire department’s) arrival,” Lt. Jerrod Barrett said. “During the firefighter’s investigation, one of the occupants of the sixth floor told (the fire department) that she may have left food on the stove inside their room. “Crews made their way up to the sixth floor room and found a small fire that had been extinguished by the sprinkler system,” he added. Barrett said the fires did not spread to any walls or the ceilings of the rooms where they occurred. Damage in the building was mostly caused by water emitted by the hotel’s sprinkler system, he added. Investigators have not determined a cause for the fire and it remains under investigation, the spokesman said. People who were staying on the first through fourth floors were allowed to return to their rooms, except for the occupants of one room that was damaged. Barrett said people who stayed on the fifth and sixth floors will be displaced because of the damage, however.
Apartment Building, Residential Temecula, CA – Sprinkler system contains apartment fire to single room; No injuries to woman and infant occupant September 8, 2015 viking210 The fire was reported at 5:35 p.m. Saturday in the 31200 block of Black Maple Drive in Temecula, said the department’s Jennifer Fuhrman. The first arriving firefighters reported smoke showing from the second floor of a two-story apartment building. A woman and an infant boy were displaced, Fuhrman said. The building’s sprinkler system contained the fire to a single room of one apartment at 5:51 p.m. Firefighters remained on scene for an “extensive water salvage,” Fuhrman said, as two of the apartments sustained water damage due to the sprinkler activation.
Apartment Building, Residential Fairfield, CT – Sprinkler system credited with keeping apartment fire in check August 28, 2015 viking210 On Sunday, Aug. 23, at 2:48 p.m. the Fairfield Emergency Communication Center received a report of a fire alarm at 130 Fairchild Avenue. Engine 2, Engine 3, Ladder 2 and Car 3 were dispatched. While responding, FD units were advised that there was a fire in one of the kitchens. Fairfield Engine 2 arrived first and reported heavy smoke on the second floor of the 54 unit apartment building and a smoke condition on the third floor. Engine 1, Engine 4, Engine 5, and Ladder 1 we additionally requested to the scene to support the fire ground effort. Assistant Chief Schuyler Sherwood arrived Car 3 and took command. Upon gaining access to the apartment, Engine 2 determined the fire had been controlled by the building sprinkler system. On scene fire units began an extensive search and ventilation operation. High levels of carbon monoxide were found on multiple floors of the building. The occupants of the fire apartment were evaluated for smoke inhalation by AMR. The building was ventilated and all 54 units searched. Assistant Chief Schuyler Sherwood stated, “The occupants of the building were extremely lucky that this building had a sprinkler system and that the sprinkler system kept the fire in check. The damage would have been much worse had there not had been a working sprinkler system.” Assistant Chief Sherwood went on to say that “He would like to remind people of the importance of evacuating a building when the fire alarm system sounds as occupants were found in the building after the fire who did not evacuate and in fact there were high levels of carbon monoxide in the area of their apartments”. Fire Units remained on scene for about two hours. Two apartments in the building were damaged and will not be able to be occupied.
Apartment Building, Residential Wichita, KS – Sprinkler system keeps fire at apartment complex from spreading August 27, 2015 viking210 1 Comment 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 August 27, 2015 viking210 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.
Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant Mishawaka, IN – Factory fire extinguished by sprinkler system August 26, 2015 viking210 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 Rapid City, SD – Sprinkler stops fire on apartment balcony from spreading into unit August 25, 2015 viking210 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.
Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant Valdosta, GA – Sprinkler system knocks down kitchen fire at restaurant August 19, 2015 viking210 Fire crews responded to a kitchen fire at the Beijing Cafe restaurant just before 12:00 noon on August 17, 2015. Fire crews say they arrived five minutes after the call came in at 11:39am, to find smoke and heavy fire in the kitchen area. They say some of the fire was knocked down by the activation of the sprinkler system. According to the Valdosta Fire Department, the 18 firefighters who arrived were able to contain the fire to the kitchen in just 12 minutes. No injuries were reported. Firefighters believe the fire was an accident and was caused by cooking.
Apartment Building, Residential Viera, FL – Sprinklers activate to help limit damage in apartment kitchen fire; No injuries August 17, 2015 viking210 One second floor apartment unit was damaged by smoke and fire and sprinkler water, and another was damaged by sprinkler water as part of a cooking fire that originated on a second floor structure at the Mission Bay apartment complex in Viera on Thursday afternoon, according to Brevard County Fire Rescue. Units from BCFR and the Rockledge Fire Department responded to a call just before 4:30 p.m. There were no injuries as a result of the fire, BCFR adds.
