Tag Archives: Night (9pm-5am)

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Waipahu, HI – Kitchen fire in high-rise apartment building extinguished by sprinkler

Unattended food on a stove caused the evacuation of the high-rise building Tuesday night.  The fire was reported at 9:36 p.m. at the Plantation Town Apartments located at 94-979 Kauolu Place.

Seven fire companies staffed with 23 personnel arrived at 9:42 p.m. to find residents leaving the 12-story apartment building. Firefighters discovered the kitchen fire had been extinguished by an activated fire sprinkler.  The activated sprinkler system caused significant flooding to ten additional units.

Paramedics treated a resident injured evacuating the building and took the resident to the hospital.  The fire was isolated to the kitchen area of a fourth floor unit.  Damage is estimated at $5,000 to the structure and $2,000 to its contents.

The water damage had not been evaluated Tuesday night.  No other injuries were reported.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Springfield, VT – Overnight fire at senior housing building contained to one unit by sprinkler system

Two residents of a senior housing building were taken to Springfield Hospital early Friday morning after a fire broke out in a fourth-floor apartment.

The resident of the fourth floor apartment in the Huber Building who was injured is expected to be okay, according to Bill Morlock, the executive director of the Springfield Housing Authority, which owns the senior housing project.

He said that while the building’s sprinkler system contained the fire to the woman’s apartment, there was extensive water damage to the building and that 12 apartments on the north side of the building were affected.

Springfield Fire Chief Russell Thompson said that two other residents of the building needed medical attention as they were being evacuated, and one of those residents was transported to Springfield Hospital, where the apartment resident was also taken.

Neither the fire chief nor Morlock said they had direct information on the condition of the residents.

Thompson said that residents were evacuated and sheltered at the nearby Congregational Church, and that the Red Cross responded to help the residents.

Morlock said Friday morning that preliminary investigation by the Vermont state fire marshal’s office indicated that the resident fell asleep while smoking.

“It’s our understanding that she is OK,” said Morlock.

He said the residents in those apartments were currently staying with friends and family, and that a cleaning service had been brought in Friday morning to start cleaning up the water.

He said that electricity was turned off in the north side of the building, and that people would not be allowed back to their apartments until the building was inspected. Additionally, the elevator in the building was also turned out, pending an inspection.

Springfield firefighters responded to the alarm around midnight, and Morlock said that the fire department called him shorty before 1 a.m.

He said the fire department had evacuated all 60 apartments in the building until they were sure that the fire was contained, and he said the residents were out of their homes until about 3 a.m., while the air quality in the building was checked.

“The building suffered considerable water damage that resulted in securing floors one to four on the north side of the structure,” the fire chief said.

 

He said there was “heavy smoke” on fourth floor of the building.

 

He said many area fire departments and ambulances responded to the 12::20 a.m. fire alarm to assist Springfield.

Apartment Building, Residential

Tulsa, OK – Sprinklers quickly extinguish sixth floor apartment fire

The 420 Mayo Building in downtown Tulsa was evacuated after a fire on the sixth floor. The sprinkler system quickly put the fire out – but caused water damage on that floor and the two below.

The small fire broke out before 11 p.m. Saturday at the Mayo 420 Building, an apartment building at 420 South Main, according to Captain Justin Banks of the Tulsa Fire Department. It was a kitchen fire caused by something left on the stove, according to TFD.

Water was flooding the floors when crews arrived.

“We’ve got a lot of water running down the elevator shafts right now and a lot of water running down the stairs too,” he said.

Banks said the sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading, but left a significant amount of water to push from the building. 

“You have to get in front of quickly,” he said. 

“It’s got all the beauty of the old, but it’s got all the technology of the new,” he said of the apartment building. “Thankfully it’s just an issue of water damage as opposed to an extensive fire.”

Residents – many with their pets – stood outside the downtown residential complex as firefighters responded. Banks said his crews were helping residents whose apartments were flooded.

“I know if this was my home, I would want to expect this kind of service from my fire department,” he said. “These people shouldn’t expect anything less. We’re there to serve them and try to do everything we can to get them back to at least as close to as comfortable state in their own home as we can.”

Banks said most of the residents would be able to return overnight.

There were no injuries.

Restoration crews are on scene for the clean up Sunday. 

Other - Retail, Retail

Pigeon Forge, TN – Sprinklers help contain overnight fire at popular retail store

A fire at popular Pigeon Forge western store Stages West early Thursday morning left the building and its roof “structurally weakened” but still intact, said Pigeon Forge Fire Department Capt. Erik Preske.

Firefighters were called to the store, 2765 Parkway, around 4:09 a.m., and the fire was out “right at dawn,” Preske said. Gatlinburg, Sevierville, Sevier County and Walden’s Creek volunteer fire departments assisted Pigeon Forge, he said.

Preske said the store’s sprinkler system “absolutely” played a part in containing the blaze. Preske said there is extensive smoke and water damage to the building.

The cause of the fire is unknown; investigators were still on the scene late Thursday morning, he said.

Store owner Marlene Houser said the store will remain closed “until we are able to assess the full extent of the damage.”

“We are still waiting to hear about what caused this event,” she said. “No one was injured, and for that, we are thankful.”

According to its Facebook page, the store is family owned and has been selling western apparel since 1975.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Amherst, NY – Sprinkler system aids firefighters in fire at Subway restaurant in shopping plaza

No one was injured in a fire that broke out inside of the Subway restaurant in at the corner of Maple Road and North Forest Thursday morning.

Getzville Fire Company Chief Scott Preston said firefighters were alerted to the fire around 1 a.m. from both a Twin City Ambulance supervisor and an automatic fire alarm at PizzaWorks two doors down. Smoke filled a few stores at the Maple Forest Plaza and firefighters didn’t initially know where the fire was located.

The fire was found at the Subway restaurant by a police officer. Fire crews made entry and fought back flames near the food preparation area. They were aided by the restaurant’s sprinkler system.  Thanks to the quick response of firefighters and the sprinkler system, the fire did not spread to other businesses in the plaza.  No one was hurt.

Hospital/Care Facility, Residential

New Brighton, PA – Sprinkler system douses fire at residential facility for the physically and developmentally challenged

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About 50 residents were evacuated from their rooms Monday night after an electrical fire in a residence wing of McGuire Memorial Home. The fire broke out around 11 p.m. in a laundry room at the home, 2119 Mercer Road, Daugherty Township, according to Daugherty Township Fire Chief Brad Stone. An electrical short in a window fan sparked the fire, which Stone said was extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system before firefighters arrived.

Because of smoke in the area, residents of one apartment wing were evacuated to another part of the building but returned to their homes about an hour later. No one was injured. Firefighters from Daugherty, Pulaski and North Sewickley townships and New Brighton responded to the fire call.

McGuire Memorial is a ministry of the Felician Sisters of North America and the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese. It provides services for people with mental and physical disabilities and for their families and caregivers.

Apartment Building, Residential

Richland, WA – Sprinkler system contains apartment fire started by improperly discarded cigarettes

A pair of apartment fires in Richland were likely started by smoldering cigarettes put in flower pots. Fire officials are warning people not to put cigarettes out in flower pots following the fires on Buena Court and Queensgate Drive. 

The Buena Court fire broke out July 25 about 1:30 p.m. and the Queensgate blaze started Monday about 2:15 a.m., fire officials said. A sprinkler system helped put out the second fire. No injures were reported.

Residential, Residential High Rise

St. Petersburg, FL – Sprinkler system saves residents of high-rise residential tower after ninth floor kitchen fire

(Blog Editor’s Note – Smoke does not cause sprinklers to activate – Only the substantial heat from a significant fire).

A small kitchen fire set off the sprinkler system and forced evacuation of the Burlington Towers in downtown St. Petersburg on Monday night, sending dry residents into the evening showers.

The fire in a unit on the 9th floor was put out quickly, but the smoke had activated the alarm system and set off the sprinkler system, officials said. At one point there were two inches of water in the hall of the 9th floor, and water had cascaded down to the seventh floor hall.

Some of the responding firefighters, who normally would haul hoses, were instead told to bring squeegees. There were no reports of injuries.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Henrico, VA – Sprinkler system contains warehouse fire helping to limit damage

Firefighters were called out to the 5200 block of Klockner Drive just before 2:00 a.m. for a fire alarm.  When crews arrived on scene, they initially did not see the blaze — but began to investigate. That’s when they found rubber foam inside the warehouse had caught on fire.

Fortunately, no one was inside when this warehouse caught fire.  16 fire units were called out to the scene to help battle the blaze. With the help of the building’s sprinkler system, firefighters were able to mark the fire under control right around 3:20 a.m.

Now, the investigation begins to determine what caused the fire. The Fire Marshall’s Office is on scene.

Self-Storage Facility, Storage / Warehouse

Contra Costa, CA – Sprinklers assist firefighters in containing vehicle fire in storage unit

A vehicle caught on fire in a storage unit, causing about $35,000 in damages, a Contra Costa County fire official said. Nobody was injured in the blaze in an unincorporated area near the city of Martinez, said Fire Marshal Robert Marshall.

Nearly 20 firefighters responded at 10:18 p.m. Thursday to reports of a fire in a storage facility in the 5700 block of Pacheco Boulevard, near Interstate 680 and Highway 4, Marshall said. Crews arrived and found smoke billowing from one of the units, where a fire sprinkler was spraying water, he said.

Firefighters used four engines and a truck to prevent the flames from spreading to other units, Marshall said. They got the one-alarm fire under control within 10 minutes. The cause is under investigation but Marshall said it might have started from oily rags left inside the vehicle.

“You need to dispose of rags like that because they can spontaneously combust,” he said. “We don’t know if that’s what happened, but all of the right ingredients were there.”