Tag Archives: California

Other Business

San Luis Obispo, CA – Suspicious fire at commercial building suppressed by sprinkler system

The San Luis Obispo City Fire Department is investigating a series of suspicious fires that have occurred over the past couple weeks. Fire crews were on the scene of two fires Friday night and one fire early Saturday morning.  All three fires are suspicious in nature, according to the San Luis Obispo City Fire Department.

The first incident took place at approximately 8:20 p.m. on Friday, in a commercial building located at 346 Pacific Street. When freighters arrived on scene, they found three burned garbage containers. The building’s sprinkler system was able to suppress most of the fire. But crews still had to overhaul the fire.

The San Luis Obispo City Fire Department says there were cigarettes found in the area, which could have caused the fire. However, there are no leads to whether the incident was accidental or on purpose.

The second fire took place at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Friday, behind a commercial building located at 3046 Higuera Street. In this fire, a dumpster and the majority of its contents were burned, according to the San Luis Obispo City Fire Department. Crews were on scene for approximately 15 minutes.

At 3:08 a.m. on Saturday, San Luis Obispo City firefighters responded to a third fire. This took place behind Fire Station 1, at the end of Round House Street. When firefighters arrived on scene, they found a large cluster of Eucalyptus trees engulfed in flames. The fire burned about 600 square feet of vegetation and took firefighters approximately 30 minutes to extinguish. Bob Bisson, San Luis Obispo City Fire Department Chief, says this particular fire required the use of fire hydrant water.

The San Luis Obispo City Fire Department says they’re concerned about the pattern of fires that have occurred in the city. Last weekend, firefighters also battled fires under suspicious circumstances.

Investigators are working to determine their cause.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Riverside, CA – Hotel fire in third floor linen closet extinguished by sprinkler system

A small fire that broke out Friday in a Riverside hotel after a holiday lighting ceremony was quickly extinguished by a fire sprinkler, officials said.  Fire officials noted smoke and an electrical burning smell in the Mission Inn Hotel lobby and upper floors shortly after an annual switch-on Christmas lighting ceremony took place, the Riverside Fire Department said in a press release.

A sprinkler in a third-floor linen room was activated and the fire was quickly extinguished, officials said. Fire crews shut down the sprinkler and water seeped through the floor, leaking into the second and first floors of the hotel.

Visitors and guests were temporarily displaced from the hotel and were allowed back into their rooms when the leaks were controlled.  Discarded fireworks debris from the Festival of Lights switch-on ceremony was ignited in a trash can and started the fire, investigators said.

Mission Inn officials said they will continue in-house salvage operations. Initial reports stated that only two guest rooms had water damage. There were no reported injuries.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Los Angeles, CA – Challenging fire at commercial building held in check with help from sprinkler system

Fire burned for more than an hour in a one-story commercial building housing a makeup wholesaler in downtown Los Angeles, firefighters said today.  Nearly 100 firefighters worked on the blaze, which started outside the building and then spread inside.

No injuries were reported at the fire, which was reported at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Max Makeup Cherimoya at 813 S. Gladys Ave., between San Pedro Street and Central Avenue, according to Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

A total of 95 firefighters responded and put the fire out in 61 minutes, containing the flames to the structure, Humphrey said. Firefighters’ efforts were complicated by dense storage conditions and “entrenched flames” inside the building, Humphrey said. However, firefighters were also helped in their battle by a sprinkler system which assisted in keeping the fire in check, Humphrey added.

Residential, Single Family Home

Brentwood, CA – Residential sprinkler system contains garage fire at house

Fire crews were called to the 1300 block of Castello Ranch Road around 1:45 p.m. Monday and found a fence on fire between two houses, Battalion Chief Jeff Burris of the East Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said in a statement. The fire also extended into garage of one of the houses.

Crews extinguished the fire on the fence, while the fire in the garage activated a residential sprinkler system that limited the damage to the exterior of the left side of the garage wall, Burris said. Investigators determined that ashes from a barbecue that were thrown into a plastic garbage bag stored next to the fence likely started the fire.

The fence between the homes was destroyed. Investigators said the financial damages to the fence and garage were approximately $50,000.  Nobody was injured.

Apartment Building, Residential

Riverside, CA – Overnight apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries

Two families were displaced after a sprinkler system put out a garbage can fire at an apartment in Riverside early Sunday morning, Nov. 15.  Riverside firefighters were dispatched to 9800 County Farm Rd. in Riverside about 1:05 a.m., fire officials wrote on an incident fact sheet.

Firefighters discovered that the fire had been in a bathroom wastebasket and had been put out by the apartment’s sprinkler system, the fact sheet said.  It took fire officials two hours to clear the water from the building.  The families were placed in lodging by Red Cross, the fact sheet said. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Santa Ana, CA – Sprinkler system helps minimize damage in fire at aluminum manufacturer; No injuries

Fire crews extinguished a fire inside an aluminum manufacturing business Thursday in Santa Ana, authorities said.   Fire Authority officials were called at 2 p.m. to a fire at Aluminum Precision Products in the 2600 block of South Susan Street, said Capt. Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority.

The company makes die aluminum forgings for the aerospace industry.  Twenty employees were near a forging press machine when it caught fire. The blaze quickly spread to the roof where a sprinkler system was activated.

“An oily residue kept igniting the fire on the ceiling,” Concialdi said.   The fire was under control by 2:40 p.m.  A Fire Authority hazmat crew contained the runoff mixture of water and chemicals.

Fifty employees were inside the building when the fire broke out, but were able to exit safety. No one was reported injured.  Around 55 firefighters with OCFA and the Fountain Valley, Garden Grove and Huntington Beach fire departments responded to the building.

The cause of the fire was an unknown failure of the forging press machine. Damages were at least $50,000, Concialdi said.  It was not clear if the business would reopen Thursday. More to come.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Belmont, CA – 4 a.m. fire at senior residential complex controlled with help from sprinkler system; No injuries

Firefighters battled to get a blaze under control Friday morning at a senior living community complex where 35 people were evacuated and was likely started by some cardboard boxes set near a wall heater, a fire captain said.

The San Mateo County Fire department said the 2-alarm apartment fire in Belmont in the 2400 block of Carlmont Drive. started about 4 a.m. on the second floor. No one was injured.

Capt. Patrick Halleran credited the building’s sprinkler system for saving lives. He added the boxes were in the apartment because an older gentleman had recently moved in.

Apartment Building, Residential

Berkeley, CA – Sprinkler extinguishes kitchen fire in fourth floor apartment; No injuries

The Berkeley Fire Department responded Monday to an apartment fire on University Avenue.  Interim Berkeley Fire Chief Avery Webb said the fire department received a report just before 10:40 a.m. of a water-flow alarm from the fire suppression system at 1122 University, just east of San Pablo Avenue.

The city dispatched a single-alarm assignment for a possible structure fire.

When firefighters got to the 5-story building — four stories of residential over ground-floor commercial — they found light smoke on the fourth floor, and water flowing from under an apartment door. 

Webb said firefighters used forcible entry to get into the apartment. They encountered heavy smoke inside the apartment and an activated fire sprinkler head.

The fire had occurred on the kitchen stove, Webb said, but was extinguished by the activated sprinkler.

The fire was confined to the stove top, and smoke affected a small portion of the building. But water from the fire sprinkler affected the fourth floor and all floors below it, causing the majority of the building damage, Webb said.

Webb said damage was estimated to be approximately $100,000. No injuries were reported.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

South Lake Tahoe, CA – Fire at refuse center confined to garbage truck by sprinkler system

Fire agencies responded to a fire at South Tahoe Refuse on Ruth Avenue earlier Tuesday  evening.  According to South Lake Tahoe Fire Chief Jeff Meston, the fire started at approximately 6:30 p.m.

The city called in assistance from Tahoe-Douglas Fire Protection District, Lake Valley Fire Protection District, Fallen Leaf Fire Department and CalFire.

“The fire was controlled by fire suppression sprinkler system and we were able to confine it to the garbage truck itself,” Meston said.

The department suspects the fire was caused an accumulation of materials between the truck’s cab and body.