Tag Archives: Maryland

Department Store, Retail

Capitol Heights, MD – Sprinkler system helps extinguish potential arson fire at Family Dollar store

Prince George’s County authorities are seeking the community’s assistance in identifying a man they believed started a fire in a local Family Dollar store.  The fire occurred at 1:23 p.m. Saturday in Capitol Heights, Maryland.

Onlookers say they saw a man set combustible materials on fire to cover up a theft. The fire was quickly contained by a store sprinkler and an employee dispensing a fire extinguisher.  The total loss is estimated at $2,500. No injuries were reported.

Residential, Single Family Home

Owings Mills, MD – Sprinkler system extinguishes arson fire after domestic dispute

A teacher’s aide from Washington, D.C., has been charged with throwing gasoline on her boyfriend and setting his home on fire, Baltimore County Police said Tuesday. Officers were called to the home in the 10800 block of Sherwood Road in Owings Mills just before 5 p.m. Sunday for a report of a domestic situation. While en route, they learned that the home was on fire.

The victim told police that his girlfriend, 29-year-old Lisa Lashell Finley had assaulted him that morning while she was intoxicated, according to court documents. When she went back to his home, he told her he wanted to end their relationship of about two years and told her she could gather her things while he waited in the basement.

He smelled gas and went upstairs to find the stove on but no fire. Finley then threw gasoline on him, according to court documents. Holding a lighter and a can of hairspray, she allegedly threatened to kill him. Police say the man left the home. But when he returned, he found a fire burning inside. A sprinkler system extinguished the fire.

Finley later turned herself in at the Franklin Precinct Monday afternoon. She has been charged with attempted first degree murder, first degree arson and first degree assault. Finley is an educational aide at Anacostia High School, an official with D.C. Public Schools confirmed. She was hired in Oct. 2013. Her current employment status is not known at this time.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Port Deposit, MD – Fire at restaurant in historic building contained by sprinkler system

Investigators are blaming an electrical malfunction for a fire inside a Port Deposit restaurant and bar on Thursday morning, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office.  “The sprinklers contained the fire to the area of origin. Without a doubt, it stopped the fire from spreading,” Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver J. Alkire said.

About 30 firefighters with volunteer fire companies from Port Deposit, Perryville and Rising Sun rushed to Joe’s Grog House at 26 S. Main Street about 9:20 a.m., after smoke alarms inside the business activated, fire officials said, adding that the business was not open at the time.

 “There was smoke showing when we arrived,” said EMS Chief Wayne Tome of the Water Witch (Port Deposit) Volunteer Fire Company.  It took firefighters approximately 20 minutes to bring the fire and heavy smoke under control, which involved ventilating the building with fans, Tome said.

Alkire determined that the blaze started inside a section of the actual bar, where patrons stand or sit and order drinks and food, he said. Alkire concluded that wiring inside that bar wall had malfunctioned, sparking the fire, he added. That section of bar is near one of the establishment’s front doors. “The fire has been ruled accidental due to an electrical failure,” Alkire said.

He and Tome both noted that a sprinkler system inside Joe’s Grog House activated and prevented more extensive damage.  Joe’s Grog House occupies the first-floor of an historic three-story building, Alkire said, adding that 16 tenants live in seven apartments on the second and third floors of that structure.

“Electricity was restored to the building, and no tenants were displaced as a result of the fire,” said Alkire, who noted that the volunteer firefighters quick response after the smoke alarms alerted also was a key factor.  Tome echoed Alkire, remarking, “The sprinklers definitely held the fire in check until we could get there. That’s why sprinklers are so important.”

Residential, Residential High Rise

Ocean City, MD – High-rise condominium fire extinguished by sprinkler system

A potential disaster was averted on Sunday evening when a sprinkler quickly extinguished a kitchen fire at a 25th-floor unit in a north-end high-rise condominium.

Shortly before 11 p.m. on Sunday, the Ocean City Fire Department responded to a fire alarm activation resulting from a fire in a unit at the Century I condominium building. When firefighters arrived, there was smoke reported from a unit on the 25th floor. The fire department response was quickly upgraded to a structure fire in a high-rise structure.

The fire, which originated in the unit’s kitchen, was suppressed by one fire sprinkler upon arrival of the fire department. Firefighters on scene worked immediately to remove smoke throughout the 25th floor. OCFD officials said the fire at the high-rise structure illustrated the importance of working fire sprinkler systems.

“Fire sprinklers respond quickly and effectively to fire, often extinguishing the fire before the fire department arrives,” said Ocean City Fire Marshal David Hartley. “This is a perfect example of how an automatic sprinkler reacted quickly, reduced the heat and flames and prevented injuries to those inside the building.”

The unit was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. The fire damage was limited to the unit in which it originated. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Ocean City Fire Marshal’s Office.

Apartment Building, Residential

Frederick, MD – Sprinklers contain Memorial Day apartment fire; No injuries reported

Crews arrived at the Mountain Glen Apartments in the 5700 block of Sugar Maple Court at 10:35 p.m. Monday to find smoke coming from the second floor of a three-story, garden-style apartment building, said Capt. Kevin Fox, a spokesman for the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services. The apartment’s sprinkler system helped contain the fire while firefighters were setting up.

“It was held to the stove and cabinet area of the kitchen and prevented from spreading into the rest of the building,” Fox said. “It took about 30 firefighters 10 minutes to bring it under control.”

The 12-unit building was evacuated during the firefighters’ response, but no one was displaced by the blaze and no injuries were reported, either to firefighters or residents, Fox said. Firefighters quickly determined that unattended cooking sparked the fire.

Department Store, Retail

Germantown, MD – Fire at Bed, Bath and Beyond store controlled by sprinkler system

Montgomery County firefighters say an electrical short in a light fixture sparked a fire on Tuesday morning at the Bed, Bath and Beyond store on Middlebrook Road in Germantown.

Fire and Rescue Spokesperson Pete Piringer said workers discovered the blaze and called 9-1-1. He said the fire was controlled by the building’s sprinkler system.

According to Piringer, the store’s employees evacuated the building and there were no injuries

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

North East, MD – High school has second sprinkler save in six weeks; Dryer fire extinguished

A commercial dryer caught fire in a Rising Sun High School laundry room on Wednesday night, sending dozens of firefighters and several pieces of equipment to the scene, according to school officials.  The small fire in the malfunctioning dryer was quickly extinguished by a sprinkler head above the appliance, school officials said, adding that it also activated a smoke alarm. The fire call occurred about 9 p.m.

The school was open on Thursday for a regular schedule, thanks to cleanup and ventilation efforts.  There was no fire or water damage to the school at 100 Tiger Drive, off Route 272, in Calvert, school officials said. The sprinkler, however, did leave water on the hallway floor near the laundry room, which is located at the north end of the building.

Firefighters were sweeping that standing water out a back door on Wednesday night. They also were running industrial fans to ventilate the smoke inside the building.  A Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office investigator arrived late Wednesday night and started an investigation to determine how the dryer fire started.

The dryer fire on Wednesday night has no connection to an electrical system fire in March, which was also contained by the school’s automatic sprinkler system.

(BLOG NOTE: Media report incorrectly stated that smoke caused the sprinkler to activate. Sprinklers are heat activated. Only the intense heat from a potentially damaging and deadly fire can cause this type of sprinkler system to operate)

Apartment Building, Residential

Laurel, MD – Apartment fire early Easter morning controlled by sprinkler system

Howard County firefighters responded to the blaze just before 1 a.m. Easter morning in the 9000 block of Thames Meade Road. Crews found a small mattress fire that was controlled by the building’s sprinkler system.

A fire was called to the scene to determine a cause and one person was evaluated by paramedics. Two apartments were deemed “unoccupiable,” and fire officials say that number might grow as investigators evaluate other apartments in the building for damage. The American Red Cross is helping residents with any short term help they may need.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

North East, MD – Overnight fire at high school contained to mechanical room by sprinkler system

**NO MEDIA COVERAGE – State Fire Marshal Report** — On March 18, 2015 around 2:48 am, the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office was requested for a fire at Rising Sun High School. Rising Sun High is a two story, brick educational facility located at 100 Tiger Drive in Rising Sun of Cecil County.  Approximately 30 firefighters from Rising Sun, Northeast and Oxford (PA) responded and extinguished the fire within 20 minutes. Investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire to have originated in the mechanical room of the school due to an electrical malfunction. The high school was protected by a working fire alarm which alerted the local fire departments quickly. The sprinkler system was also activated, which contained the fire to the mechanical room. There was no structure damage due to the fire.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Bel Air, MD – Fire at medical center limited to utility closet thanks to sprinkler system

Nobody was injured in a small utility room fire at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air Sunday afternoon, according to theOffice of the State Fire Marshal.  At 1:07 p.m., a fire alarm activated at the medical complex in the 500 block of Upper Chesapeake Drive, the fire marshal reported. 

Staff told emergency dispatchers there was a fire in the cardiac catheterization lab, located on the first floor of the four-story building, the report said. A cardiac catheterization lab is where medical practitioners user special equipment to diagnose heart conditions. 

Approximately 20 firefighters responded—from Bel Air, Abingdon and Fallston—and found that a sprinkler had put out a small fire in lab’s utility room before crews arrived, the fire marshal reported.  While there was no structural damage at the facility and no procedures were taking place in the lab at the time of the incident