Tag Archives: Canada

Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

Kelowna, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for fire in condo; No injuries reported

A condo building fire Sunday night in Kelowna left water damage to multiple units.

Platoon Capt. Robert Skeldon with the Kelowna Fire Department says crews were called about 8:45 p.m. to the building at 1740 Richter St.

Crews arrived to find heavy smoke coming from a single unit on the third floor, with water in the hallway.

Firefighters found signs of an obvious fire inside the unit, with two sprinkler activations.

There was no fire extension to the rest of the building, however there was water damage to multiple units, says Skeldon.

A search was conducted to ensure all occupants were safely out of the building.

There were no injuries in the incident.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but is not considered suspicious.

KFD responded with four engines, a rescue unit, ladder truck, command unit, and 20 personnel.

RCMP, paramedics and emergency support services assisted at the scene.

Apartment Building, Residential

Winnipeg, MB, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for kitchen fire in apartment building; No injuries reported

Residents from two Winnipeg apartment blocks evacuated their homes after fires started in each of the buildings.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service arrived at 207 Edmonton St. on Sunday after a kitchen fire in one of the building’s 40 suites activated the fire alarm, district chief Terry Kelly told CBC at the scene.

Crews arrived and found light smoke and water flowing from the building. Sprinklers put out most of the fire, but crews extinguished the rest of the flames, Kelly said.

Fire damage is limited to the one suite, but units below have extensive water damage, he added.

“The sprinkler activation puts a lot of water out very fast ,and that’s what we’re dealing with is cleaning up the water on the floors below,” he said.

Residents of the building — which houses single newcomer women and their children, according to its website — evacuated before crews arrived just after 1 p.m., a news release from the city says.

Crews had the fire under control within 45 minutes, and no injuries were reported.

The city’s emergency social services responded to help residents find temporary living accommodations.

The cause of the fire appears to be an accident, the city says.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Airdrie, AB, Canada – Sprinkler system controls fire at large manufacturing facility; No injuries reported

In the evening on Saturday, August 5, at approximately 6:31 p.m., the Airdrie Fire Department received a call regarding a large manufacturing facility engulfed in heavy interior smoke at 700 Block Eastlake Road.

According to a city release, the fire was controlled with the assistance of the building’s sprinkler system and extinguished by firefighters on arrival.

“All employees were safely evacuated, and no injuries were reported. The roof was also checked for possible damage.”

20 firefighters were on the scene from the Airdrie Fire Department, assisted by Rocky View County.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Fire Prevention Bureau and damages will be estimated by the Airdrie Fire Department.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Oakville, ON, Canada – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at community center

The Oakville Fire Department says no injuries were reported following a fire at the Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre on Monday, July 17.

At around 8:30 p.m., the 2302 Bridge Rd. facility was evacuated due to a small fire in one of the board rooms.

“We believe there were items placed on top of a charging station that kind of smothered and caused something to overheat creating a small fire,” said Oakville Fire Chief Paul Boissonneault.

“The fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system and then our crews removed the remanent components when they arrived.”

The fire chief said firefighters also ventilated the building to get rid of the smell of burnt plastic.

The community centre was able to open its doors on Tuesday as per usual.

Damage to the boardroom is said to be minimal.

“The sprinklers certainly did their job,” said Boissonneault.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Ottawa, ON, Canada – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at commercial business; No injuries reported

It was a busy morning for Ottawa firefighters.

Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) responded to two commercials fires within a one hour time period Tuesday morning.

Firefighters were first called to a commercial structure in the 3000 block of Strandherd Drive shortly before 1:30 a.m.

Upon arrival, firefighters were met by staff reporting an odour in the building, but nothing visible.

Firefighters located a door with smoke coming out around the back of the building and could hear several alarms going off.

A working fire was declared, though further investigation revealed the fire had been extinguished by the building sprinkler system.

The fire was under control by 2:25 a.m. and there were no injuries reported.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Petitcodiac, NB, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for early morning fire at school

Petitcodiac Regional School was closed Thursday due to an early morning fire that has been deemed suspicious.

Chief Craig Ramsay of the Petitcodiac Volunteer Fire Department said they were dispatched to the school around 4:20 a.m.

Light smoke was discovered in one of the rooms in the elementary wing of the K-12 school and the sprinkler system was activated.

The fire was contained to one room.

Ramsay said the fire is suspicious and is being investigated by the RCMP and the New Brunswick Office of the Fire Marshall.

School staff are evaluating the damage and the facility is closed.

“For how long, nobody knows,” said Ramsay.

A spokesperson for the Anglophone East School District said they are communicating with the police and fire officials.

More information will be provided to families when it becomes available to the district.

Petitcodiac Regional School is located in the heart of the village and is home to roughly 650 students.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Red Deer, AB, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for fire at tire store; No injuries reported

Red Deer Emergency Services (RDES) are currently investigating a fire that took place Wednesday night at the north-end Canadian Tire store.

Curtis Schaefer, Assistant Deputy Chief for the City’s RDES, says the call came in at around 8:30 p.m. on April 5.

A total of 19 firefighters were on scene with three fire engines, a ladder, a command vehicle and an ambulance.

When crews arrived, he says smoke wasn’t seen escaping the building (6380 -50 Ave) but firefighters were able to see smoke inside the store from the front doors. He says crews got in quickly and found the seat of the fire, its origin, in the seasonal section of the store.

Making their initial fire attack, Schaefer says crews went back out to bring more hose lines but the fire grew, activating the sprinkler system. While the sprinklers controlled the fire from spreading, he says crews ventilated the building to ensure there was no other damage or fire going on in the building at the same time, before knocking out the fire completely.

“With the combination of the fire and the sprinklers, the entire building became full of smoke,” he said. “Once the fire was out completely and the sprinklers were shut off, the time was spent ventilating the building. It’s a very large structure with a large amount of smoke in it.”

Crews were on scene for approximately four hours, he says.

The cause of the fire is under investigation but Schaefer says the belief is that it may be suspicious, leading RCMP to assist them Thursday morning.

As the store’s closing hour was 9 p.m., he says all employees and customers were successfully evacuated when fire crews came on scene. No injuries were reported.

No damage was caused to other properties and the fire was contained to just the store’s seasonal area, but Schaefer says water and smoke damage spread across the entirety of the Canadian Tire.

“When we have fires inside large commercial buildings like this, the challenge is just the size. It’s difficult for our crews to get access to the seat of the fire and basically the size of the building and the amount of material in the building can cause challenges for our crews to get to the seat of the fire and put it out quickly,” he said.

Investigators and a property restoration company were on scene Thursday morning.

Bank, Other Business

Vancouver, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for arson fire at ATM in bank; No injuries reported

The Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) says a fire that broke out in Chinatown Friday (March 31) night was likely the result of arson.

Around 10:54 p.m., the VFRS received a call about a small fire at an ATM inside the Scotiabank Bank at 268 Keefer St. in Chinatown. When crews arrived, smoke was coming from the ATM and the sprinkler head had been activated, VFRS spokesperson Matthew Trudeau told V.I.A.

Crews ensured the fire was out and checked inside of the building for damages. There was no additional fire damage outside of the ATM but there was significant damage from smoke and water from the sprinklers.

Eleven fire trucks were dispatched to the first alarm fire, which was deemed incendiary and referred to VPD for arson investigation, Trudeau explained.

VPD Spokesperson Const. Tania Visintin says the “suspicious fire” is still under investigation.

There are no reports of injuries as the bank was unoccupied at the time.

A note that was posted by Sun Wah Centre Management to tenants and visitors notes that the bank was flooded and “no emergency restoration team can get into it or clear off the water due to hazardous smoke occupied.”

The management team added that some units continued to experience leakage Saturday.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Airdrie, AB, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for fire in restaurant

A fire broke out at Moody’s Mediterranian Restaurant late in the evening on Wednesday, Feb. 1, but the building’s sprinkler system thankfully prevented it from spreading, saving the restaurant and other businesses located in the commercial building. 

The Airdrie Fire Department (AFD) received notification of the sprinkler system going off at about 11:28 p.m. on February 1, when all businesses in the buildings had closed and everyone had gone home. 

Crews had to forcibly enter the restaurant, which is located on the bottom floor of a two-story commercial building. 

They encountered heavy smoke and limited visibility, but soon were able to determine that a single overhead sprinkler had extinguished most of the fire and prevented it from spreading. 

AFD deputy chief Garth Rabel said the building’s sprinkler system fulfilled its exact purpose. 

“The sprinkler system did exactly what it is supposed to do. It was a single sprinkler head over the site of the fire,” said Rabel. 

“When it activated, that sets off a monitored system that activated the 9-1-1 system that got us on the way to the call,” he said. 

“This was a single sprinkler head over the site of the fire that held it in check until our team could get there. That’s exactly how a good commercial fire ops works.” 

While the business will require repairs from both the fire and likely water from the sprinkler, Rabel said the sprinkler was what kept the building safe. 

“The true damage is without a sprinkler system, when the fire is able to take hold. That’s where huge damage happens,” he said. 

“Sprinkler systems don’t damage buildings, they save them.” 

Crews extinguished what remained, and then went to work venting the smoke, using a thermal imaging camera to make sure that the fire didn’t affect other parts of the building. 

Moody’s is now closed for the foreseeable future while they work with the Fire Prevention Bureau and their insurance company, but all other businesses in the building were able to return to operations the following day. 

“The team ensured that it stayed compartmentalized. Everything stayed within that one business,” said Rabel. 

“The team checked the rest of the building for any extension of fire or smoke and found nothing.” 

12 firefighters in total were on-scene for the situation, including members from all three local fire stations and a platoon chief. 

The entire response took about three-and-a-half hours, with crews remaining on scene until about 2 a.m. 

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Lethbridge, AB, Canada – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at processing plant

​At approximately 9:25 p.m. Saturday, January 14, five stations responded to 2200 block of 31 Street North after reports of a fire in a commercial processing plant. 

On arrival, crews found staff had exited the building and reported that the fire inside had been extinguished by the sprinkler system and staff. 

Two crews remained on scene to assist with smoke evacuation and sprinkler shut down.

The fire is under investigation and there is no estimate of damage at this time.