Tag Archives: Maine

Apartment Building, Residential

Rockland, ME – Sprinkler extinguishes fire in 44-unit downtown apartment building; No injuries

A fire damaged one apartment and a business Monday evening in a historic downtown apartment complex. The fire chief said a sprinkler head extinguished the fire in the one apartment where the fire broke out. 

There were no injuries but the fire at the Thorndike Building kept Rockland firefighters at the scene for more than two hours. Residents of the 44-unit apartment complex were evacuated. The fire was reported at 5:25 p.m. by a resident of a second-floor apartment at the Thorndike, a four-story brick complex that has businesses on the Main Street level and apartments on the upper two floors.

The fire is not believed to be of suspicious origin, said Rockland Fire Chief Adam Miceli. The state fire marshal’s office has been called in to assist in the investigation but Miceli said there was work being done outside the building near the second floor rear apartment and which may be connected to the fire. While there was smoke in the hallways, there was no real smoke damage in those areas.

Auto Dealership, Retail

Sprinkler system contains fire in multi-purpose commercial building (Falmouth, ME)

Falmouth firefighters put out a fire in a commercial building that the town’s fire chief said could have caused more damage Sunday afternoon if not for the building’s sprinkler system, which helped suppress the flames.  Fire Chief Howard Rice Jr. said a fire alarm sounded at 12:29 p.m. in the multi-use commercial building at 196 Route 1.

Rice said the fire started in an electrical room in the Morong Falmouth Service Center, a car dealership at the front of the commercial structure. Rice said the fire burned materials that were stored in the room. He said the sprinkler system helped contain the fire to the electrical room.

Apartment Building, Residential

Damage minimized at four-story apartment building thanks to fire sprinklers (Portland, ME)

An unattended stove while cooking was the cause of a fire which began in a second-floor apartment on Friday, October 25. Firefighters arrived to the scene at about 10 p.m. and praised the building’s fire sprinkler system, with Fire Chief David Jackson saying that the fire could have been much very dangerous had it not been for the sprinkler system. 

“The systems worked exactly as they should have,” Jackson said.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Sprinklers control fire at commercial building (Falmouth, ME)

An afternoon fire began August 18 in the basement of a 30,000 square foot commercial building, and the responding fire crew is giving the building’s fire sprinklers credit for limiting the damage. According to Falmouth Fire Chief Howard Rice, Jr., one sprinkler head activated and controlled much of the fire that began in near the hot water heater in the basement; firefighters were able to extinguish the remaining fire in 15 minutes. There were no injuries reported.

Residential, Sorority / Fraternity

Arson fire at fraternity controlled by sprinkler system, no injuries reported (Orono, ME)

The fire at the Phi Kappa Sigma house on College Avenue began about 11 p.m. and was quickly extinguished by the house’s sprinkler system, Orono fire Lt. Joel Sides said.  He said that fire damage was contained to the attic and that no one was injured.  UMaine spokeswoman Margaret Nagle said Saturday that she was told that the fire started in a small mattress on the third floor, which includes some student living space and an attic.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Fire sprinkler system contains manufacturing plant blaze (Auburn, ME)

An afternoon fire that began in one of the processing machines at a fabric manufacturing plant was limited by the building’s fire sprinkler system. Firefighters arrived soon thereafter to douse the remaining flames. “This is exactly what should have been done,” Fire Chief Frank Roma stated. No one was reported injured as a result of the incident.

Apartment Building, Residential

Sprinklers stop middle-of-night apartment fire (Portland, ME)

The sprinkler system at the Cumberland Park Place Apartments helped keep a small fire that started on the third story of the building from causing any significant damage. The Portland Fire Department was called to 457 Cumberland Ave. around 3:30 a.m. when a cigarette lit a small fire on a chair in the living room of on of Cumberland Park Place Apartment’s units. Deputy Chief Robert Wassick said the sprinkler system was a primary factor in preventing the fire from becoming any larger or causing more damage.