Tag Archives: Iowa

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Sioux City, IA – Arson fire at hospital ER contained with help from sprinkler system

A SIOUX CITY MAN TAKEN TO ST. LUKE’S UNITY POINT HOSPITAL TUESDAY NIGHT IS FACING CRIMINAL CHARGES FOR ALLEGEDLY STARTING A FIRE IN THE MEDICAL CENTER.  34-YEAR-OLD DAVID WARNER IS CHARGED WITH FIRST DEGREE ARSON AND CRIMINAL MISCHIEF. COURT DOCUMENTS STATE THAT WARNER WAS BROUGHT TO THE HOSPITAL FOR AN EVALUATION THAT HE REQUESTED SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT.

WHILE THERE, POLICE SAY HE SET A ROLL OF TOILET PAPER ON FIRE IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM EXAM WARD. WHEN THE SPRINKLER ACTIVATED IN THE ROOM, WARNER ALLEGEDLY BROKE THE SPRINKLER HEAD, CAUSING A CONSTANT FLOW OF WATER WHICH FLOODED THE E.R. FIRST FLOOR HALLWAY, AMBULANCE ENTRANCE AND LOWER LEVEL KITCHEN.

WARNER FLED THE HOSPITAL BUT WAS ARRESTED AT 27TH AND JACKSON STREETS. HE WAS BOOKED INTO THE WOODBURY COUNTY JAIL ON TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS BOND.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Clearfield, IA – Sprinkler system limits spread of nursing home fire;

Residents of a Taylor County nursing home were evacuated after fire broke out early Thursday morning. Firefighters from four area departments responded to the fire at the Clearview Homes at 202 Jefferson Street. Clearfield Assistant Fire Chief Clifford Briggs tells KMA News the fire was reported shortly before 6:15 a.m.

“We’re a rural fire department,” said Briggs. “We already had arrangements made with other surrounding departments to come. Lenox actually made it up here, and had already entered before we got here. At the time they made entry, we had smoke and sprinklers going. It was kind of smoky.”

Up to 40 residents were in the nursing home at the time of the fire. Briggs says the fire was located in a resident’s room inside the facility’s western portion. “All the residents had made it out at this time,” he said. “They made it out prior to us even making entry. They were all safe and across the street at a local funeral home. Once we did an overhaul of the room, we found an area that was on fire. We pulled the ceiling down out of the resident room, and extinguished all flames.”

Briggs credits the home’s sprinkler system for preventing the fire’s spread. Firefighters from Sharpsburg, Diagonal and Lenox assisted Clearfield’s department at the scene. Corning’s department was also on standby. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Briggs says the State Fire Marshal has been notified of the incident.

Other Business

Muscatine, IA – Sprinkler systems keeps banquet hall fire from spreading; No injuries reported

A Muscatine banquet hall was damaged when a fire started in the ceiling.  Firefighters responded to Rendezvous Banquet Hall and Catering on Lucas Street around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 6th.  Fire crews saw smoke coming from the ceiling area, as well as fire and smoke coming from the roof. The building’s fire sprinkler system prevented the fire from spreading.  Crews were able to knock down the main fire within a few minutes of arrival, and another crew worked on the roof.  According to Fire Captain Gary Ronzheimer, the fire caused significant damage to a rooftop HVAC system and a portion of the inside of the building. Losses are estimated at $20,000.  No one was injured.

Apartment Building, Residential

Iowa City, IA – Fire at off campus apartment contained to room of origin by sprinkler system

The Iowa City Fire Department is investigating a Saturday morning fire that caused an estimated $20,000 in damage to an Iowa City apartment. According to a press release, firefighters responded to a report of an oven fire at 427 North Dubuque Street at 7:35 a.m., Saturday. The arriving crew found a working fire in an apartment on the 4th floor. The building sprinkler system contained the fire to the room of origin and firefighters were able to extinguish the fire in approximately 20 minutes, the release stated.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Cedar Rapids, IA – No injuries after sprinkler system puts out nursing home laundry fire

A fire in the laundry room of a Cedar Rapids nursing home was quickly extinguished Saturday night.The fire was reported at 10:37 p.m. at Living Center East, 1220 Fifth Ave. SE. When fire crews arrived, they found the building’s sprinkler system already had extinguished a fire in a basket in the laundry room. Firefighters determined the fire had not spread beyond the laundry basket and turned off the sprinkler system.  No one was hurt and no residents were displaced, fire officials said.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

North Liberty, IA – Sprinkler system assists fire crews in controlling supermarket fire

A fire was reported at an eastern Iowa Fareway on Sunday morning.  Sunday, September 10, at 10:30 a.m. the North Liberty Fire Department was called to Fareway for alarms going off and smoke coming from the roof.  When crews arrived, they saw smoke from the roof, and the inside  full of smoke. They found the fire in a refrigerator unit, they believe motor sparks started the fire. Fire crews were able to put out the fire with help from the sprinkler system. 

Fareway was closed at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported.  The North Liberty Fire Department was assisted by Solon, Coralville, and Tiffin Fire Departments. Johnson County Ambulance Service, Iowa State Patrol, Mid America Energy and Johnson County Joint Communication Center were also on scene.  The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Le Mars, IA – Sprinklers contain fire after explosion at manufacturing plant; No injuries

A compressor fire shut down IML Containers in Le Mars Monday afternoon, causing an undetermined amount of damage to the manufacturer of plastic food containers. 

Le Mars fire chief David Schipper said the Le Mars and Orange City fire departments were called at 4:22 p.m. to IML, at 1620 24th St. SW in Le Mars, for a compressor that had caught fire, and what was described as an “explosion” in the building. 

IML employees stood watching as the firefighters went in and out of the building, deploying water hoses and venting the smoke. None of the employees or firefighters were hurt in the fire. 

 

“Everybody did evacuate safely, we did an accountability check, and everybody made it out of the building just fine,” Schipper said. 

The building was damaged to an unknown extent by the heavy smoke, which Schipper said came from burning oil in the compressor. Additionally, electrical and water infrastructure were damaged, and the compressor that caught fire was destroyed. 

“It’s going to be quite a while before this place is back up and in business,” he said. 

Schipper credited the building’s sprinkler system for helping to control the fire. 

“Once again, sprinklers do save a lot, they did contain the fire for us,” he said. 

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Cedar Rapids, IA – Fire at food processing plant controlled with help from sprinkler system; No injuries

Cedar Rapids firefighters responded Friday night to a dryer fire in an Ingredion facility building at 1001 First St. SW. According to a media release from the Cedar Rapids Fire Department, the call from Ingredion plant personnel about a fire in an idle dryer was received at 5:50 p.m. Firefighters arrived as a sprinkler system was triggered by the fire, according to the release.  All Ingredion employees were accounted for as they evacuated the building safely. Meanwhile, smoke was showing from the second story of the building and from an exhaust pipe, according to the release.

Firefighters entered the building where the fire was located only to find that they couldn’t put water directly on the fire due to the location of the materials in the dryer, according to the release. To work around this, a ladder truck was utilized to established a flow of water into the dryer while the dryer’s hatch was opened and the material inside was removed. As soon as the fire was extinguished the facility was turned back to Ingredion, according to the release. The release indicated that the fire damage to the facility was light and no injuries were reported.  Area Ambulance also assisted the Cedar Rapids Fire Department at the scene.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Iowa City, IA – Laboratory fire at University of Iowa contained by sprinkler system

A fire Sunday damaged a laboratory in the most heavily used research facility on the University of Iowa campus. Iowa City firefighters responded to a fire alarm at Bowen Science Building, 51 Newton Road, around 5:45 p.m. Sunday and found flames on the second floor, according to an Iowa City news release. Firefighters extinguished the fire in about 20 minutes.

Bowen’s sprinkler system contained the flames to the room where the fire started, but early estimates indicate damage to one-third of the first floor and one-third of the second floor of the 45-year-old building. An initial damage estimate indicates at least $500,000 in damage to the lab. This estimate does not include water damage.

“That water will just keep leaking down for a while,” said Iowa City Battalion Chief Eric Nurnberg.. “And as that water continues to migrate through the building, I’m sure they are going to have some other issues to deal with.”

“The research conducted in this area is predominantly medical, and non-hazardous in nature,” Hayley Bruce, a UI spokeswoman, said via email. “Some of the research has been temporarily interrupted, but at this time no data has been lost. No classes are expected to be impacted.”

University officials recently updated the Iowa Board of Regents about long-term plans for a $30 million renovation of the building. An $18.5 million project to modernize Bowen’s building systems is continuing through the 2017-18 academic year.

“Bowen Science is a building built in (1972) and funds are needed to completely modernize this building,” Rod Lehnertz said last week during a meeting of the regents’ Property and Facilities Committee. “It still remains — approaching 50 years of age — the most intensely utilized research facility on our campus. It is critical that the building be modernized and taken care of for the next generation.”

Nurnberg described the fire as “a great example of the importance of having a sprinkler system in the building.”

“Had there been no sprinkler system here, the damage would have crept into the millions easily,” he said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Council Bluffs, IA – Apartment fire put out by sprinkler system

One person was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries suffered in a Friday morning fire at a Council Bluffs apartment complex. Crews were called to the Deerfield Apartments in the 900 block of Franklin Avenue shortly after 7 a.m.  Investigators say the fire started inside an apartment and was put out by the sprinkler system before they arrived on scene.  There were four people inside the unit at the time. One of them was taken for treatment.  Authorities say there is water damage to the apartment in which the fire originated and additional water damage to the unit below.  There was no immediate word on the cause.