“A small fire had been kept from spreading by the sprinkler system and firefighters used a fire extinguisher to finish putting the fire out,” Bowling Green Fire Department spokeswoman Marlee Boenig.
Firefighters used fans to clear the building of smoke.
According to information released by Elizabethtown Fire Department Deputy Chief Everett Roberts, the department was alerted to a fire at 940 N. Black Branch Road, at 8:48 a.m.
Roberts said the battalion chief was first to arrive and reported heavy black smoke coming from the west side of the production area. The battalion chief quickly confirmed with plant supervision that all employees had been evacuated.
Roberts said a rescue pumper crew made entry with hose lines to extinguish the fire, which was being held in check by the plant sprinkler system. Another crew gained access to the roof but found the fire was not extended.
Roberts said it was determined the fire originated near a hydraulic oil storage vessel causing a flash fire and heavy smoke.
Initially, there were reports of several employees needing medical attention. Hardin County EMS sent several ambulances and a supervisor to the scene. Roberts said it later was determined only one employee was checked on by EMS on scene and that employee did not need medical treatment or transport.
The fire was extinguished, overhauled and ventilation of the structure was completed and all EFD units were clear by 10:55 a.m.
“Fortunately, there were no injuries or major damage to the building,” Roberts said in the statement. “This incident does bring out an opportunity to remind folks to be careful not to block any fire lanes or fire equipment such as sprinkler connections. It is important for fire crews to have immediate access to these areas.”
Crews responded to a fire at a Lexington business Tuesday morning.
Just before 8:15 a.m., the Lexington fire Department says they responded to the 1500 block of Mercer Road for the report of a structure fire at the Trane plant.
When firefighters got there they found a piece of machinery on the manufacturing floor on fire. They say the sprinkler system had activated, containing the bulk of the fire.
The firefighters were able to extinguish the remaining fire that was found.
Maysville Fire Chief Kevin Doyle said MFD was called to the Lowe’s store at about 3:30 p.m., to answer reports of a fire inside the business located on East Maple Leaf Road.
When firefighters arrived they found a rack of lawn furniture cushions in the Lawn and Garden section in flames, he said,
The store’s sprinkler system had already activated to control the fire, Doyle said. Firefighters had the fire out in short order, he said.
“It was out pretty quickly,” he said.
There was no obvious source to have ignited the fire, Doyle said. The merchandise was not newly displayed and had been stocked for some time, he said.
Although there was electrical power source nearby it was not affected or damaged by the fire and remained intact, Doyle said.
No one was injured and the store was shut down for a short time, he said.
Detectives T.C. Rice and Michael Parsons of the Maysville Fire Department are reviewing security video to see who was in the area at the time the fire started, Doyle said.
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact Doyle at 606-564-2541 or Parsons at 606-564-9411.
Firefighters were called to a fire at Hardymon Lumber in downtown Maysville on Saturday evening. The fire destroyed the business’s office and showroom but did not spread to areas where lumber was stored. The business was up and running by Monday.
The cause of that fire has officially been listed as undetermined.
Calloway County Emergency Management Director Chesley Thomas said no injuries resulted after the fire was reported at about 10:45 a.m. He said the entire area was evacuated and all workers managed to leave the building without any problems.
“An all clear was given and we had nobody hurt, so they were allowing everybody back into the building,” said Thomas, who arrived at the scene after the fire had been extinguished. He said the fire began in one of the work zones of the plant. “But the sprinkler system did its job.”
Calloway County Fire-Rescue Chief Tommy Morgan said he was the third person from CCFR to arrive on the scene, behind two firefighters who came in their personal vehicles ahead of heavy response units from multiple stations throughout the county. He said that it is believed a Milwaukee battery charger may have developed a short while placed on a shelf, eventually igniting other nearby materials.
“All of the damage was contained to the shelf,” Morgan said. “There also just happened to be a sprinkler head right above it, so when it built up enough heat, that sprinkler came on and pretty much put everything out. We just went in and cleaned everything up a bit and packed everything out. There was still some stuff like paper and cardboard that was still smoldering a little bit, but everything was good, thank goodness.
“It’s been quiet for a long time on the fire side for us, so I was afraid this was going to be a big one, the way (Calloway County Sheriff’s Office dispatch) came out and said they actually had smoke showing.”
Morgan said CCFR has not had an actual building fire since October or November of 2019, but he said it has responded to several brush and woods blazes, as well as wrecks in that time. Even those calls, he said, have become fewer and farther between since mid-March when the COVID-19 pandemic basically brought things to a halt locally.
He said this was very noticeable Tuesday as he responded with his vehicle’s siren and emergency lights activated to Pella.
“I know a lot of people are still going and doing things, but I didn’t have near the trouble you normally do when you go out Fourth Street (in downtown Murray). That’s usually like a madhouse when you’re trying to go out on a call,” Morgan said. “I met like two or three cars. Normally, like I said, it’s a madhouse trying to get up there between meeting people and getting around people. It seems like people are staying in like they should be.”
Morgan said calls to respond to Pella happen every now and then and the vast majority are for false alarms. He said the last time he remembers a call being for an actual fire was in the early 2010s, shortly after he became chief, when an air conditioning unit on top of a warehouse building ignited, with CCFR units extinguishing that fire.
Morgan said he believes seven or eight CCFR trucks did reach Pella Tuesday, with four or five others that responded, but were called back to their stations after it was determined that enough units were already on the scene. He said 25 to 30 firefighters responded to the call.
According to an arrest report, police took Antonio Spuria, 18, into custody after witnesses and evidence pointed to him setting a 55-gallon garbage can on fire around 2 a.m. Saturday inside the men’s restroom on the second floor of Miller Hall Dormitory, located on U of L’s Belknap Campus.
Multiple students were inside the dorm at the time of the fire, and the building had to be evacuated for several hours while crews with the Louisville Fire Department cleaned up and repaired its sprinkler system, according to Spuria’s arrest report.
Spuria was booked at Louisville Metro Corrections around 2:30 p.m. Saturday and was charged with first-degree arson and wanton endangerment, according to his arrest report.
The fire was reported at 3:19 a.m. by Owensboro police officers responding to a burglary alarm at the store, at 1731 Scherm Road. Steve Leonard, battalion chief for the Owensboro Fire Department, said the fire appears to have started in a compressor in one of the grocery store’s coolers.
The fire is believed to have smoldered for an hour or more before spreading to other coolers and activating four of the store’s sprinkler heads.
The sprinklers contained the fire to the area of the affected coolers. Leonard said falling ceiling tiles activated a motion alarm. When officers arrived, they found smoke and water coming out of the store and called for fire units, Leonard said.
Firefighters were at the store for about two and a half hours, Leonard said. The fire itself did minimal damage, but the building and contents sustained heavy smoke and some water damage, Leonard said.
“Had there not been sprinklers, it would have extended into the attic area,” and become a major fire, Leonard said. The cause of the fire has been ruled accidental.
“The compressor failed for some reason,” Leonard said. The store was closed Tuesday.
A fire led to an evacuation of a Lexington Hotel Friday evening.
It happened around 10 p.m. at the Clarion Hotel on Athens-Boonesboro Road, near Interstate 75.
Firefighters say the fire started around the pool and fitness area, but the sprinkler system kept it from spreading too far.
Firefighters say it caused minimal damage to the building. The hotel was evacuated but guests were allowed back inside shortly after.
No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
