Tag Archives: Indiana

Apartment Building, Residential

Columbus, IN – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire on apartment balcony; No injuries reported

Columbus firefighters were sent to The Enclave Apartments, 275 N. Marr Road, at 9:56 a.m. Sunday after a fire alarm activated due to water flow being detected in the building’s sprinkler system.

When firefighters arrived, they saw a sprinkler head on a third-story balcony had activated and was showering water. When they went to the third floor apartment, they were unable to make contact with anyone inside and breached the door to do a search, said Capt. Mike Wilson, Columbus Fire Department spokesman.

After determining no one was in the apartment, they went to the balcony where they saw evidence a fire had occurred and had been extinguished by the sprinkler system, Wilson said.

The fire caused damage to the exterior vinyl siding as well as a portion of the wooden structure on balcony. To ensure the fire had not extended into the attic space or internal apartment, firefighters removed additional sections of siding and drywall which confirmed the fire was isolated to the balcony area.

Damages are estimated at $5,000. Columbus Fire Department investigators are investigating the cause. No injuries were reported at the scene.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Evansville, IN – Fire contained by sprinkler system at shredding facility; No injuries reported

The Evansville Fire Department is investigating a business fire that took place on Wednesday evening.

EFD crews were dispatched to Piranha Mobile Shredding on Franklin Street on Wednesday after an alarm service reported a sprinkler system activation at the business.

The fire department says crews arrived at the business around 7:00 p.m. and found a heavy haze inside the building.

The fire involved a baler, where EFD says most of the fire was contained by the sprinkler system.

No injuries occurred as a result of the fire, and no structural damage was reported.

EFD says the fire remains under investigation at this time.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Terre Haute, IN – Sprinkler system activated for trailer fire at recycling center; No injuries reported

A trailer full of cardboard caught fire while docked at a Terre Haute recycling center Friday morning.

Firefighters responded to a call around 10:16 a.m. Friday at Midwest Fiber Recycling located at 4000 E. Steelton Ave. According to Terre Haute Fire Chief Bill Berry, the trailer was a total loss.

The fire caused a sprinkler system inside the building to go off; however, Berry said the recycling center was not damaged. No was hurt during the incident.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Seymour, IN – Sprinkler system activated for fire at waste facility

Seymour firefighters extinguish a fire Friday afternoon at Best Way Disposal’s transfer station at 975 S. Commerce St. in Seymour. The fire occurred in a building that trucks back into and dump trash. Thanks to the building’s sprinkler system, a good portion of the fire was extinguished and firefighters only had to hose off hot spots, Battalion Chief John Kirby said.

Other - Retail, Retail

Elkhart, IN – Fire at paint shop held in check by sprinkler system until fire crew arrived; No injuries reported

Elkhart Fire Department crews were called to a local paint shop after a motor home inside the shop caught fire.

The blaze was reported around 6:50 p.m. on Friday, March 19, in the 5300 block of Beck Drive.

While en-route multiple 911 callers reported the structure on fire.

A large plume of smoke from the roof was seen by crews arriving at the site.

Employees told crews the fire was actually a large diesel motor home inside a paint booth.  They said they tried to use fire extinguisher but were unsuccessful in putting out the fire.

It took about 90 minutes to douse the flames.

There was no significant structural damage to the building and no firefighter or civilian injuries reported. 

The building was equipped with a fire sprinkler system within the paint booth which held the blaze in check until fire crew arrived.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Batesville, IN – Apartment kitchen fire put out by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

Batesville Fire & Rescue responded to a report of a fire at an apartment unit in Romweber Flats around 9:10 a.m. Sunday.

Firefighters arrived on the third-floor unit and observed smoke and fire coming from the kitchen area. The fire was contained to the kitchen area due to the activation of the sprinkler system and the immediate actions taken by firefighters. Crews performed search and rescue efforts while also evacuating tenants of the complex for precautionary reasons.

The fire appeared to have started on or near the kitchen stove. Multiple apartment units suffered water damage from the sprinkler system. No injuries were reported.

Batesville Fire & Rescue reminds residents to keep things that can catch fire, such as paper or dish towels, at least three feet from the stove.

Mutual aid was received by Morris Volunteer Fire Department and Oldenburg Eagle Fire Company.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Crawfordsville, IN – Sprinkler System put out fire at old high school entrance

A small fire at the southeast entrance to the former Crawfordsville High School on Jefferson Street was quickly extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system Thursday morning.

Damage to the former school, now a residential apartment building called Laurel Flats, was limited to the door itself and did not spread, Fire Chief Scott Busenbark said.

“It just damaged the door that was leaning on it,” Busenbark said. “We had Station 1 and Station 2 on the scene … an alarm like that always gets a full response.”

The fire threatened the gymnasium section of the 110-year-old building, which was added as an expansion to the original building in 1941.

No injuries were reported and the entryway suffered only minor damage due to the sprinkler system.

“It put it out on its own,” Busenbark said.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Officers from the Crawfordsville Police Department assisted at the scene.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Ferdinand, IN – Sprinkler System helps put out fire from malfunctioning compressor; No injuries reported

Units of the Ferdinand Volunteer Fire Department responded late Monday night to the report of an explosion and heavy smoke showing at a business location on West Eighth Street.

Fire Chief John Hoppenjans said the first arriving units answering the 11:16 p.m. callout determined the explosion and resulting fire was contained in the air compressor room at Leibering Lumber, 514 W. Eighth St.

Hoppenjans said a 50-horsepower compressor had malfunctioned and exploded, blowing open the doors of its cabinet and touching off a fire that was coming out the eaves of the building housing the unit. A nightwatchman reported the issue to authorities.

A sprinkler system activated and did its job, Hoppenjans said, and firefighters followed up by shutting off the electricity to the building, extinguishing hot spots and ventilating the space.

The compressor was a total loss, but the building just sustained charring to rafters and can be repaired.

Five trucks and 26 firefighters were on the scene 90 minutes.

The Ferdinand Police Department and Memorial Hospital Emergency Medical Services assisted.

There were no injuries.

Other - Storage / Warehouse, Storage / Warehouse

Elkhart, IN – Sprinkler system contains fire after coach bus catches fire inside building; No injuries reported

Elkhart Fire Department responded to a fire inside the former Forest River plant at 914 CR 1, Elkhart on Monday afternoon.

A bus was on fire inside the plant, which Elkhart Coach moved into just three weeks ago. The fire department had to stretch about 200 feet of hose line to reach the building.

The fire was reported out around 4:30 p.m. No one was injured and employees were evacuated safely.

Dispatch confirms that the bus caught fire inside building, but no units inside were damaged. The sprinkler system contained the fire and firefighters put it out.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Jeffersonville, IN – Electrical malfunction fire at brewery controlled by fire sprinklers

Goodwood Brewing is working to rebuild after a fire damaged the building where they planned to open a new restaurant on March 8. 

The Jeffersonville Fire Department says they believe the flames on Friday were sparked by an electrical malfunction. 

Firefighters were able to contain the fire quickly, and say it was the well-trained crew and a working sprinkler system that saved the building, which dates back to 1870.

Even though the historic building is still standing, there’s a lot of work to be done. 

“You can smell the smoke,” said James Corbin, the director of operations for Goodwood Brewing, as he stepped into the building on Monday. 

The fire was contained on the third floor, but the first and second floor have water damage. 

Corbin was in the building when it caught fire. He said watching those flames was a “helpless feeling.”

“All I could think about was this is going to push back our opening a little bit,” he said. 

He’d planned a multilevel entertainment complex in the building along Spring Street. He says he was prepared for the challenges of launching a business in a building that old. 

“When you go into things like this, you prepare for the worst, you hope for the best,” he said. “You don’t prepare yourself for a fire. That’s something that I would have never prepared myself for.”

After three days he says he’s still struggling with the sight. 

“Coming back up and seeing it like this, it’s kind of a punch in the gut,” said Corbin. “It slows us down a little bit but we will rebuild and we’ll come back stronger than ever.”

He’s still waiting on insurance assessments to know for sure, but hopes to open soon. 

“I would like to be open by June 1, but I don’t know if that’s going to be feasible or not,” he said. “The goal is to rebuild and get this open as soon as possible.”