Tag Archives: Morning (7am-12pm)

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Juneau, AK – Arson fire in high school bathroom extinguished by sprinkler system

The Juneau Police Department is seeking an arsonist after a small fire halted classes at Thunder Mountain High School on Tuesday morning. “The fire marshal and JPD are investigating the fire as arson,” said Assistant Fire Chief Ed Quinto on Monday afternoon.  Fire Marshal Dan Jager confirmed that JPD’s school resource officers are investigating who might have set a toilet paper dispenser on fire in a boys’ bathroom.  It might be only a toilet paper dispenser, but “it’s kind of a significant thing,” Jager said.

The fire was hot enough to trigger the school’s sprinkler system, which enthusiastically extinguished the flames and overwhelmed the bathroom’s floor drains. Building-wide fire alarms went off, triggering the evacuation. “It sounds like the sprinklers did their job very effectively,” said Juneau School District Chief of Staff Kristen Bartlett.  The sprinklers quenched the fire but also flooded a nearby hallway and sent water into a few classrooms. Quinto estimates the water and fire damage at $2,500.

The fire started shortly before 10 a.m., and staff and students returned to the high school by 10:30, Bartlett said. The fire took place in the purple wing — the section of the school extending toward the football stadium — and classes scheduled for that wing were expected to resume in the afternoon.

“The custodians and the Thunder Mountain faculty and staff and the maintenance department were excellent at getting things cleaned up,” Bartlett said.  Parents of students at Thunder Mountain High School and nearby Riverbend Elementary School received two calls from the school district: The first call alerted them to the fire; the second told them the fire had been extinguished.

Bartlett said she cannot recall any similar arsons at Juneau high schools. Quinto said he remembers a fire in the girls’ bathroom in the same wing a few years ago. According to Empire records, a small fire scorched Thunder Mountain’s turf field in 2011. A more serious arson burned the turf at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park in 2012.

 

Quinto added that while Thunder Mountain has cameras covering its entrances and common areas, there are no cameras in the hallway outside the bathroom.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Henrico, VA – Fire at Nabisco plant contained with help from sprinkler system

Henrico fire officials say a small fire forced the evacuation of the Nabisco plant on Laburnum Avenue on Friday morning.  The fire appears to have been contained by sprinklers.  Fire officials say there is some water damage, and firefighters are working to turn off all the sprinkler and clear out the water.  The evacuation for the employees was lifted in about an hour.  There were no traffic impacts in the area.

Apartment Building, Residential

Rapid City, SD – Single sprinkler holds apartment fire in check; No injuries

A fire sprinkler is being credited for saving a Rapid City apartment building this morning.Thursday, you couldn’t really tell that there was a fire in the building on the 400 block of Bernice Street early Thursday morning.  Fire crews could see smoke coming from the 3rd floor of the apartment, near Elk Vale Road.  Three stations responded, but crews only needed to use a fire extinguisher to put out the fire.  That’s because a single sprinkler head in the apartment kept the fire in check and limiting the damage.  Nobody was hurt and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Winston-Salem, NC – Sprinklers contain fire in 850,000 sq. ft. furniture plant; No injuries reported

A fire at the United Furniture Industries plant on Hanes Mill Road on Wednesday morning forced the evacuation of the 850,000-square-foot building, with no injuries reported after Winston-Salem firefighting crews extinguished the fire. The fire department stayed on the scene most of the afternoon, checking over the area where the fire occurred in the rear of the building on its southwest side. The fire was called in about 11:44 a.m.

Company spokesman Robert Cottam said the fire is believed to have been caused by a short circuit in some medium-voltage wiring. Insurance and fire investigators will be coming to the plant today to continue the fire investigation, he said. “We lost some furniture and have some smelly smoke damage, but we can fix that,” Cottam said. “We had no injuries and the evacuation went as planned.”

The fire started in a part of the plant where finished furniture items are kept prior to shipping them out. “There were flames visible,” Cottam said. “There were sofas on fire. It was not an excessively large fire, contained to about a 10-by-12- foot area. The Winston-Salem Fire Department did a great job. Our sprinkler system worked as it was supposed to.” Cottam said there would be a “significant product loss” of 7,000 to 10,000 pieces of upholstered furniture.

“That is in one section of the plant, but the others are going to be fine,” he said. “The inventory is not a total loss.” The fire was under control by 12:30 p.m.

Roger Brown, who works in a different part of the plant from where the fire occurred, said that he got right out when the alarm sounded. “We didn’t see smoke when we were in the place,” Brown said. “Once we got outside we could see black smoke billowing.”

Brown said he and other workers were told to take the rest of the day off and that the plant would be closed today.

Cottam said production will also probably not take place on Friday and that production at the plant would probably be up and running again on Monday. Distribution could be back in gear by Friday afternoon or sooner, he said.

United’s facility on Hanes Mill Road, formerly known as Hanesbrands’ Weeks plant, specializes in making promotional upholstery — lower-cost items used to draw customers into a store — and vinyl furniture in the $299 to $699 range.

United has about 350 employees at the 850,000-square-foot plant at 401 W. Hanes Mill Road.

When Hanes Hosiery Mills Co. opened the Weeks plant in 1960, it was the largest manufacturing plant in North Carolina. Hanes Hosiery spent about $30 million on the plant, which would be about $245 million in today’s dollars, according to calculations from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Apartment Building, Residential

Racine, WI – Apartment fire started by unattended candle contained by sprinkler system

A sprinkler system is credited with containing a fire in a bedroom in an apartment Thursday morning, city fire officials said.  Racine firefighters were dispatched at 8:53 a.m. to the Regency West Apartments, 2218 Loni Lane, for a report of a fire alarm.  Fire crews, with the assistance of building maintenance, gained access to an apartment, where firefighters discovered that the sprinkler system had contained the blaze.  Fire officials said the occupants were not home at the time of the fire and no one was injured. An unattended candle was found that occupants admitted they had forgotten about, fire officials said.  Damage is estimated at $4,000 and the three occupants of the apartment were reported to be working with Red Cross for housing arrangements.  Racine police assisted at the scene.

Apartment Building, Residential

East Wenatchee, WA – Sprinkler system limits damage in apartment kitchen fire; No injuries reported

The sprinkler systems that are required by code in East Wenatchee apartment buildings worked perfectly Monday to keep a stove fire from spreading according to fire investigator Brian Brett.  Crews were called just after 11am to the Bello Rio Apartments in the 2-thousand block of Northwest Cascade Avenue.  That’s where Brett said a fire began in one of the apartment units when French fries were left cooking.  Brett said the sprinkler systems are required by code in multi-unit apartment buildings and in this case, prevented the fire from spreading.   Damage was confined to the wall above the stove area.

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.

Apartment Building, Residential

Myrtle Beach, SC – Sprinkler system keeps apartment fire from spreading; Fire contained to room of origin

Myrtle Beach Fire Department crews responded to 1075 Mr. Joe White Avenue, the Alliance Inn, Friday morning for the report of an apartment fire, according to Lt. Jon Evans with MBFD.  Evans stated that all occupants were out of the building when crews arrived, and that most of the fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system in the room the fire started in.  The fire did not extend to any further rooms.  The fire is still under investigation at this time, check back with WMBF News for more information.

Other / Not Specified

Falmouth, MA – Fire at marine laboratory held in check by automatic sprinkler system

Falmouth Fire/Rescue reports that at approximately 9 AM Thursday morning, they responded to the Marine Resource Center, part of Marine Biological Laboratories at 125 Water Street in Woods Hole. Shortly after arrival, Engine 20 reported smoke showing from the rear of the building. A full first alarm was dispatched, bringing Engine 25 and Ladder 26 to the scene. Crews connected to the sprinkler system and advanced an attack line that they then connected to the standpipe in the stairwell. The crew made entrance to the second floor hallway and found a heavy smoke condition with a fire in a lab that was being held in check by the sprinkler system. The crew fully extinguished the fire and began ventilating the building. Firefighters remained on scene for about 90 minutes. There were no injuries, and the fire is believed to be accidental. Mutual aid from Joint Base Cape Cod and Mashpee Fire covered the Falmouth stations during the incident.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Sandwich, IL – Storage fire at molding business distribution center held in check by sprinkler system

The Sandwich Fire Department extinguished a blaze at the Plano Molding Company on Thursday.  Fire officials were dispatched to the Plano Molding Company, which is located at 500 Duvick Ave. at approximately 11:24 a.m. for an activated fire alarm. While officials were enroute to the scene, they were updated from 911 calls that there was a fire within the building at 510 Duvick Ave., which is the Plano Molding distribution warehouse. Fire units found that the sprinkler system was active, and that there was a fire in the stack of pallets inside the building.

All occupants of the building evacuated safely, and there were no injuries reported.  The sprinkler system in the building kept the fire smoldering until fire crews were able to fully extinguish the fire. Fire crews extinguished the fire in approximately 20 minutes. Crews worked to clear the smoke out of the building and remove the burnt material outside.  Officials from the Sandwich Fire Department were assisted on scene by Little-Rock Fox, Bristol-Kendall, Newark and Somonauk Fire.  The Sandwich Fire Station was covered with help from the Oswego and Big Rock Fire Departments.