Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential Portland, OR – Fire in high-rise residence hall at Portland State University contained by sprinkler system January 11, 2015 viking210 Portland firefighters say an unattended candle burned an 11th floor apartment unit in Portland State University’s Goose Hollow residence hall. The fire was reported about 4:20 a.m. Sunday at a 16-story residence hall located at 1604 Southwest Clay Street. The smoke alarm woke the person who was asleep in the apartment where the fire began. That person escaped uninjured. No one else was hurt in the early morning incident, Portland fire officials said. Firefighters encountered smoke on the 10th and 11th floors of the building. The building’s fire sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading. Fire damage was limited to the apartment where the fire broke out, however, smoke damage extended to other areas of the building. Managers of the building are working with residents to find alternative housing.
Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse Fargo, ND – Single sprinkler head controls warehouse fire at Sysco Foods January 11, 2015 viking210 Fargo Fire is crediting a single sprinkler head with preventing the spread of an early morning fire. Just after 4:30 Saturday morning fire crews responded to the Sysco Foods Warehouse at 3225 12th Avenue North. When crews arrived on scene, alarms were sounding and smoke was visible inside the building, but fire had been controlled by a single sprinkler head in the building’s sprinkler system. No one was in the building at the time of the fire and there were no injuries. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. According to the National Fire Protection Association, sprinklers are effective 96% of the time and buildings with sprinklers that have a fire typically experience less than half the damage of buildings without sprinklers.
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Clinton, TN – Sprinkler system saves residents of senior housing tower from fire January 10, 2015 viking210 What was described as a “room and content” fire at the Clinton Towers on Seivers Boulevard on Wednesday night was controlled by the fire sprinkler system. The fire was reported at around 11 p.m. inside a room on the second floor. No one was injured. Clinton Fire Chief Archie Brummitt said the sprinkler system inside the room “did its job,” allowing firefighters to completely extinguish the blaze within just a few minutes of their arrival. The cause of the fire appears to be accidental, and while the exact cause is unknown, the fire may have started in the room’s heating unit.
Apartment Building, Residential Sun Valley, NV – Sprinklers control multiple arson fires at apartment complex January 8, 2015 viking210 The Sparks Fire Department says fires at a Sun Valley apartment complex were intentionally set. The fires started around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Boulder Creek Apartments. Crews found that the internal fire sprinkler system had extinguished two fires in two separate areas of the unit. A third fire was noticed in another room but had self-extinguished. The call was reported to Sparks dispatch by the fire alarm monitoring company as water flow. Fire crews found smoke coming out of the open entry door of one of the apartment units. Firefighters found no one inside. Sparks Fire says several people were evacuated, but have been allowed back into their units. There were no reports of injuries.
Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant Plover, WI – Late night electrical fire at restaurant extinguished with help from sprinkler system January 4, 2015 viking210 An electrical fire was contained to the kitchen at Bamboo House in Plover on Thursday night. Plover Fire Chief Mark Deaver said the sprinkler system in the building was to thank for everything that was saved during the incident, in which no one was injured. The metro fire team, consisting of units from the Plover, Stevens Point and Hull fire departments, responded at around 11:15 p.m. Thursday. Crews were on scene for about two hours, Deaver said. The fire took about 10 minutes to extinguish after firefighters arrived on the scene. Deaver said the investigation is ongoing but that the building remained intact and suffered no structural damage.
Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic Holdrege, NE – Electrical fire at hospital suppressed by sprinkler system January 3, 2015 viking210 Phelps Memorial Health Center rang in the New Year with fire alarms Thursday night, when a malfunctioning electrical panel caused a small fire in the lower level of the hospital. Though the sprinkler system and fire alarms were set off, patient care was not interrupted by the fire, and no one was evacuated, Phelps Memorial Director of Public Relations Keri Berry said. At 9:31 p.m., the Holdrege Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire call at the hospital because of smoke in a maintenance room at the hospital. Fifteen firefighters responded to the call and were on scene for about 30 minutes, Fire Chief Jim Wagner said. “No patients were affected by the fire. No one was moved from their rooms,” she said. “Everyone worked really well to make the process smooth.” The hospital is investigating the fire and did not have a damage estimate available. No injuries were reported.
College/University (on campus), School / University North Vancouver, BC, Canada – Suspected arson fire at Capilano University contained by sprinkler system January 2, 2015 viking210 North Vancouver RCMP are searching for suspects in a break-in and possible arson at Capilano University this morning. Emergency crews were called to the university library shortly after midnight. “On arrival, we noticed smoke in the library,” says Ast. Fire Chief Dave Burgess. “There was a small fire and the sprinkler had it deactivated. The sprinkler controlled the fire and kept it to the area of origin.” Investigators aren’t sure what may have been stolen from the library yet. They will examine video surveillance in an effort to identify any potential suspects. The University says they will be assessing the damage, but do not anticipate any class disruptions today.
Primary / Secondary School, School / University Battle Ground, WA – Fire in school science lab contained to one room by sprinkler system December 30, 2014 viking210 A small fire started tonight in a science room at Chief Umtuch Middle School in Battle Ground. A fire sprinkler had activated in the room, suppressing the fire and keeping it contained to the room, said Clark County Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Tim Dawdy. The sprinkler activation triggered an alarm to summon firefighters, who finished extinguishing the fire once they arrived. At 9:20 p.m., firefighters with Clark County Fire & Rescue were dispatched to the school, at 700 N.W. Ninth St. When they arrived, they found a small fire in room 185, a science classroom, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian. The fire is under investigation by the Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office, Dawdy said, but it appeared that a heat lamp inside an animal terrarium sparked the fire, and that flames spread to a nearby bookshelf.
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Amherst, NY – Sprinkler system quickly contains Christmas night fire at nursing home December 27, 2014 viking210 Three people are recovering Friday morning after a small fire at a nursing home in Amherst Thursday night. Catholic Health officials said an overheated motor on an electric wheelchair sparked a small fire.Fire crews arrived at Saint Francis nursing home in Amherst around 9 p.m. Thursday. They said smoke started pouring from a wheelchair in a vacant room. The sprinkler system kicked in, and the fire was quickly contained. Neighboring fire companies were called to help move the patients. Medical personnel checked out 45 people. Two patients and one worker were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. “Most of the residents were not affected by the smoke, but the ones in that area were moved to another part of the building,” JoAnn Cavanaugh, Catholic Health Director of Public Relations. “We have other empty beds in the facility that they will spend the night until we can clear out the rooms from the water and the smoke.”
Apartment Building, Residential Corbin, KY – Apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system December 24, 2014 viking210 Approximately 30 residents at a downtown Corbin apartment building were forced to evacuate the building just before Midnight Tuesday when a fire was sparked in a storage room. Corbin firefighters were called to Cooper Health Apartments at the intersection of Main and Gordon streets when a fire alarm was activated. Battalion Chief Larry Jones stated the fire was sparked in a small storage room off of the main office on the first floor by some type of electrical malfunction. Corbin Fire Chief Barry McDonald said a sprinkler head broke off sending water pouring onto the fire, extinguishing it. The sprinkler system had to be shut down because of the broken sprinkler head. With the system down, maintenance personnel had to establish a fire watch until it could be repaired.
