Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing Montville, CT – Overnight fire at packaging manufacturer limited by sprinkler system March 17, 2017 viking210 An overnight fire at Rand-Whitney Containerboard caused minimal damage and no injuries despite extreme cold, according to Fire Marshal Ray Occhialini. Occhialini said firefighters were called to the 370 Route 163 company about 1 a.m. after a machine that rolls and cuts the company’s cardboard liner paper malfunctioned, causing the paper to tangle and catch fire. Occhialini said sprinklers in the building, which he described as the complex’s newer, paper machine building, held the fire “in check” until crews arrived to put it out completely. He estimated firefighters spent about two hours working inside the building and then another hour or so cleaning up ice-laden equipment and spreading ice melt around the area. “It was a cold night,” Occhialini said. No firefighters or employees were injured. Rand-Whitney already has arranged for a company to replace sprinkler heads and has begun replacing electrical components damaged by flames or water, Occhialini said.
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Milford, CT – No injuries in senior housing complex fire; Fire caused by unattended cooking March 16, 2017 viking210 Four tenants of a housing complex in Milford have been displaced after a fire on Friday night. Milford Fire Department says they received notification of an active fire alarm at 75 Demaio Drive around 7:30 p.m. Firefighters responded to the city-owned elderly housing complex and were notified of a working fire on the fourth floor of the structure. The sprinkler system in the buildings had activated due to a cooking fire in a unit on the fourth floor. The sprinkler system extinguished the fire. The tenant stated that the fire started when he stepped away from the kitchen area. He said he left the stove unattended. There were no injuries reported from the fire. Four tenants were displaced by the fire and will be relocated to an unaffected area of the complex. Milford housing and sprinkler crews were on the scene to begin fixing the damage.
Apartment Building, Residential New Haven, CT – Fire in basement of apartment building knocked down by sprinkler system January 16, 2017 viking210 City firefighters quickly knocked down a basement fire Wednesday afternoon at the Bella Vista Apartments in eastern New Haven. Crews arrived at Building E of the complex to find a minor fire in the basement there at about 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, Battalion Chief William Gould said at the scene. Much of the fire had been knocked down by the building’s sprinkler system by the time firefighters arrived but they called in a full assignment of trucks because of the number of people who live in the building. “The fire extended somewhat in the (chute) but not up to upper floors so they were able to extinguish it in the area of origin,” Gould said. Firefighters were able to put out the rest of the fire within minutes. No one was hurt in the fire, Gould confirmed. “The sprinklers do their jobs, they save lives, keeping the fire in check,” he said.
Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant New Haven, CT – Electrical fire at Marriott near Yale University knocked down by sprinkler system January 12, 2017 viking210 New Haven Fire Department is on the scene of a fire at the Marriott on Whalley Ave. New Haven Fire Department sent out tweets around 2:00 p.m. Saturday saying there was a reported fire at the Courtyard New Haven at Yale on the 5th floor. According to officials, the fire was an electrical fire with heavy smoke. They say it was knocked down by a sprinkler and contained quickly. New Haven Fire Officials are on the scene conducting an investigation. Officials at the hotel say there was a brief evacuation, but guests are being allowed back into the hotel.
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Ridgefield, CT – Kitchen fire at senior living facility extinguished with help from sprinkler system December 7, 2016 viking210 The Ridgefield Fire Department responded to a chair fire at Ridgefield Crossings around 9 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 4. Fire Chief Kevin Tappe said that an elderly woman who lives in the facility was heating a towel in the microwave and it ignited. “The woman grabbed the towel out of the microwave and then tossed it across the room,” Chief Tappe said. “It landed by a chair with clothing on it and started the chair and clothes on fire.” The facility’s manager used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames and the building’s sprinkler system finished the job, Tappe said. According to the chief, there was very little fire damage and some smoke and water damage. Chief Tappe said that the fire alarms and sprinkler system worked properly. Fire officials opened the windows and used fans to clear the smoke from the building, Tappe said. No one was injured.
Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility Shelton, CT – Kitchen fire at rehab facility extinguished by sprinkler system November 29, 2016 viking210 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.
Apartment Building, Residential Stamford, CT – Fire started by unattended space heater contained by sprinkler system November 10, 2016 viking210 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.
Primary / Secondary School, School / University New London, CT – Evening fire at elementary school confined to one classroom by sprinkler system October 10, 2016 viking210 A fire at the Winthrop STEM Elementary Magnet School has been knocked down, according to New London Fire Chief Henry Kydd Jr. The fire, which began about 9 p.m. Friday evening, caused the sprinkler system to go off and was confined to one classroom, the chief said. There were no injuries reported. Two custodians, who heard the fire alarm go off and evacuated, said they were the only people in the school at the time. Superintendent Manuel J. Rivera, at the scene, said school officials will need to assess the scene when firefighters finish their work to see how it will impact operations. However, with the long weekend, he said they are optimistic that building staff will be able to get the school in shape for the return of students on Tuesday. No further information was available.
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Southbury, CT – Sprinkler system keeps fire from spreading at retirement community September 12, 2016 viking210 A resident of The Watermark at East Hill was treated at a hospital for minor smoke inhalation and released Tuesday following the 11:50 a.m. fire, C. Jill Hofer, Watermark’s director of communications said Tuesday. Hofer said the fire was “contained’ and may have been caused by microwaved popcorn. The alarm and sprinkler system activated and the fire was extinguished, Hofer said.
Office Building, Retail New Canaan, CT – Fire in historic downtown commercial building contained by sprinkler system September 7, 2016 viking210 New Canaan firefighters on Monday night put out a blaze that had broken out in the third story of a commercial building at the corner of on Main Street and East Avenue, prompting emergency responders to close the area to motor vehicle traffic. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the fire at 96 Main St., though it appeared to have started in the attic of the prominent downtown building, according to Fire Chief Jack Hennessey. “Sprinklers assisted with putting out the fire,” Hennessey told NewCanaanite.com. “The sprinklers saved the day. It could have been a very, very serious fire. Right now we are making sure that we got all of the fire and we are dealing with the water damage from the sprinkler system.” No one was hurt in the blaze, which drew multiple New Canaan Police and Fire Department vehicles—including Engine 1 and Ladder 2—at about 7:48 p.m., officials said. The full extent of the damage could not immediately be assessed, Hennessey said, though it included structural damage in the attic and water damage on the third floor and possibly second floor. “It’s dark and it’s still a mess, so it’s hard to tell,” he said. The smell of smoke wafted down from the building on this windy Labor Day night, as some dozen people milled about the street and sidewalk below. Police closed Main Street between Locust and East Avenues, and also directed eastbound traffic on East Avenue back down away from the scene. The 1912-built, brick-exterior building—long known as the “Wire Whisk” space and currently occupied by both New Canaan Nails & Spa and Kaahve coffee shop on the ground floor facing Main Street, and Cava restaurant on a lower level around Forest Street—is known to longtime locals as the former base of Elliot Noyes & Associates, named for the Harvard Five architect who worked and resided in New Canaan.
