Tag Archives: Night (9pm-5am)

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Astoria, OR – Fire in mechanical room at Comfort Suites Hotel contained with help from sprinkler system

Monday night Astoria Fire Department and an Officer from Astoria Police Department were dispatched to the Comfort Suites in East Astoria for a report of a natural gas leak behind the building.  While the fire department was evacuating the building the gas leak ignited from an unknown source.  An intense fire broke out igniting the hotel triggering a working fire response.

Astoria fire department was able to quickly address the fire after the evacuation of the hotel. The fire had minimal penetration into the buildings mechanical room where a sprinkler activated.  A large water supply pipe burst inside the hotel flooding the first floor.  Displaced hotel patrons were relocated to other area hotels. Multiple agencies responded as mutual aid, including Olney Wulluski Fire Department, Lewis and Clark Fire Department, Warrenton Fire Department, Knappa Fire Department, Medix Ambulance and Clatsop County Sheriff’s Department.

The cause of the original gas leak and ignition source are under investigation. Members from the Clatsop County Fire Investigation Team and Oregon State Police Arson investigators will be meeting this morning to continue the investigation.

Other Business, Place of Worship

Methuen, MA – Sprinkler system helps firefighters control suspicious church fire

Officials are investigating a two-alarm fire that damaged the Christian Church Voice of Salvation at 5 Pleasant St. late Sunday.

Deputy fire Chief Scott Sullivan said the blaze, reported at 10:22 p.m., is still under investigation but indicated he is “leaning toward arson.” 

The State Fire Marshal’s Office is involved in the probe and took samples for analysis, Sullivan said.

Investigators used an accelerant-sniffing dog to detect possible signs of arson. A sprinkler head controlled the fire long enough for a hose team to get into the building, which housed the Red Tavern for many years, Sullivan said.

The building has many void spaces and that makes firefighters nervous, the deputy chief said. The firefighters who responded to the fire did a good job of keeping the flames from spreading, he said.

The fire damaged a rug and some furniture, Sullivan said. The Haitian-American congregation will most likely not hold worship services there next Sunday, he said.

Salem, New Hampshire, and Lawrence crews assisted Methuen firefighters. The last unit left the scene at 2:24 a.m. Monday.

Other - Retail, Retail

Gilroy, CA – Sprinkler system helps protect Salvation Army store from fire set by thieves

A 2-alarm fire at a Salvation Army facility in Gilroy destroyed $5,000 worth of donations.

Monday’s 2 a.m. blaze is being investigated as suspicious by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and Gilroy Police Department.

Flames spread through a trailer filled with donations.

Workers at the Salvation Army said the trailer has been broken into several times before at night, and the thieves use candles to light their way through darkness.

Workers suspect a thief’s candle sparked the fire.

The Gilroy Fire Department wrote on Facebook, “Crews responded to the Salvation Army store on Camino Arroyo, where they found a 53 (foot) trailer on fire up against the loading dock. The fire extended into the building but was held in check by the sprinkler system.”

Other Business

Yuma, AZ – Fire at linen services company contained by sprinkler system; Third Yuma sprinkler save in one week

The Yuma Fire Department said sprinklers helped put out a fire that could have gotten out of control.  Monday just after 1:00 a.m., an alarm was reported indicating a fire sprinkler activation at the Alsco facility, 3231 South Florence Lane. Yuma Fire Department and Marine Corps Air Station Fire Department personnel arrived to find heavy smoke in the building. YFD said entry was made to the facility and it was found that a fire had occurred involving several large bags (approx. 250 lbs. each) of restaurant linen products. The fire had been contained and extinguished by the fire sprinkler system.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Yuma, AZ – Fire at Candlewood Suites Hotel stopped by sprinkler system

The Yuma Fire Department said a sprinkler system stopped a fire in a local hotel.  YFD said Monday shortly after 9:30 pm, an alarm was reported indicating a fire sprinkler activation at the Candlewood Suites Hotel, 2036 East Avenue 3E. Firefighters said arriving Yuma Fire Department personnel found the building being evacuated, with light smoke and water flowing from a room on the hotel’s second floor. It was determined that there had been a stove top fire and it had been extinguished by the fire sprinkler system. Firefighters confirmed the fire was out and it had not spread beyond the area of the stove.

YFD said the water flow to the sprinkler head was shut off and firefighters worked to ventilate the room and remove the smoke from the area. It was found that the room’s occupant had put a pan of cooking oil on the stove top to heat and had left the room. While they were gone, the oil overheated and ignited. The damage was limited to the immediate area of the stove, with the microwave above the stove starting to melt and catch fire at the time the sprinkler system activated. Had the fire not been extinguished by the fire sprinkler system, extensive damage to the room and other parts of the hotel would have occurred, as well as lives put in danger. This is the third commercial fire sprinkler save in less than a week!

YFD said fire sprinkler systems can keep fires from spreading and can also extinguish them. Fire spreads quickly and can double in size every minute. Even small fires can cause significant damage to property and endanger those nearby. Contrary to many Hollywood portrayals, only sprinkler heads directly exposed to the heat activate, not those in the rest of the room, building, or complex.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

West Bend, WI – Sprinkler system keeps fire in check at industrial building

West Bend and Jackson firefighters battled a blaze at an industrial building on East Progress Drive near Stonebridge Circle in West Bend for about two-and-a-half hours this morning.  According to the West Bend Fire Department, the call came in around 4 AM Saturday.

Fire officials say the fire began on the outside of the building and then penetrated the steel structure. The fire did damage a natural gas line which hampered firefighting efforts.  

The building’s sprinkler system kept the fire inside the building in check,  according to officials.  At this time there is no estimate on the amount of damage to the manufacturing facility and the cause of the fire is under investigation.  

No one was injured while fighting the fire.  

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Northbridge, MA – Fire in light fixture at nursing home extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Staff at Beaumont Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center said they knew they’d been successful in evacuating the building without too much trauma when the residents said they felt like the event was a party and not the result of a small fire. The fire Monday night, in a light fixture, was quickly extinguished by the facility’s sprinkler system, said Matthew Salmon, Beaumont’s owner. The fire damage was hardly noticeable, but the water that was pumped out of the sprinkler flooded the floor and flowed down to a lower level of the center, forcing 28 of the 150 residents to be evacuated.

Staff gathered up residents, collected their needed personal belongings and organized their medications and charts so they could be taken to nearby facilities in the Beaumont group or to St. Camillus Health Care, where they spent the night. “They said it was like a party,” a nursing supervisor told Mr. Salmon.

Mr. Salmon anticipated the residents would return by Tuesday evening. The evacuation went off exactly as it should, and it’s something care facilities practice with fire alarms and evacuations in mock situations.  “We have a plan in place,” Mr. Salmon said. “We’re part of Mass. MAP (the Massachusetts Long Term Care Mutual Aid Plan).”

The plan sets how an evacuation and relocation of patients in care facilities is to be carried out, Mr. Salmon said. So if another facility was evacuated, some of its residents could be moved to Beaumont, he explained. Fire doors closed during the incident, and some residents who sheltered in place slept through it, Mr. Salmon said.  The Fire Department was credited with quickly minimizing the damage being done by the sprinklers and for setting up a response of vehicles that could move residents who had to leave the building.

A task force of ambulances was called to the home, along with the Worcester Regional Transit Authority’s AmbuBus, a retrofitted 1996 bus equipped with medical supplies and the ability to carry 25 patients in wheelchairs and on stretchers. The bus has been deployed just twice since in was made ready for use in 2010, but it is used for training, WRTA spokesman Meaghan Lyver said.

On Tuesday, elevators at Beaumont were out of service and some alarms weren’t working, so staff members were monitoring those areas. Fans were circulating air and drying rugs in the affected area, and Mr. Salmon said once the health board gave an OK, folks could move back into their rooms.

Other Business

New Bedford, MA – Damage from arson fire at laundry business limited by sprinkler system

State and New Bedford fire officials are investigating another suspicious, early-morning fire that damaged a laundry building Thursday in the city’s near North End, officials said.  The fire at Purity Services Laundry, 405 Myrtle St., was in a garage loading area that is inside the building, according to Fire Chief Michael Gomes.

“It was not accidental,” the chief said of the fire.  Damage from the blaze was minimized due to the activation of the company’s sprinkler system, according to Gomes and Jennifer Mieth, a spokeswoman for the state Fire Marshal’s office. Gomes said the Fire Department learned of the fire when the sprinkler system was activated.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within 20 minutes of their arrival. According to the New Bedford Police Department log, the fire occurred at 3:07 a.m. Thursday.  Items held in the storage area suffered fire damage and there was smoke damage throughout the building, Gomes said.

Officials with Purity Services Laundry were not available for comments Friday morning.

Investigators said they have not determined whether Thursday’s fire is related to numerous early-morning fires in the city’s near North End during July and August.

Chief Gomes said this fire is under investigation by the New Bedford Fire and Police Departments and the state Fire Marshal’s office.

Anyone with information can call the state’s arson hotline, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 1-800-682-9229, Mieth said. All calls are confidential.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Portland, OR – Sprinklers help control overnight fire at elementary school

A school in southwest Portland caught fire early Thursday morning, just two days after it welcomed students for the school year.

Portland Fire and Rescue crews responded to the blaze at Southwest Sherman Street and Southwest Water Avenue at 2:43 a.m., which firefighters said started as a dumpster fire before spreading to The International School.

The private elementary school is a Spanish, Chinese and Japanese language immersion school with 418 students.

Crews knocked down the fire, but not before one building’s electrical system was damaged. Water sprinklers helped minimize fire activity but also added to the destruction.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Roanoke, VA – Late night fire at assisted living facility contained by single sprinkler; No injuries reported

Roanoke County Fire and Rescue responded to a commercial fire alarm activation Wednesday morning.  Authorities say it happened around 2:05 a.m. on the 6900 block of Williamson Road, at North Roanoke Assisted Living.  Upon arrival, crews found light smoke and one fire sprinkler device that had activated.  Further investigation determined that a single laundry bag on an outside stoop area had ignited. The occupants of one building of the assisted living facility were temporarily moved to other buildings in the facility.  There were no injuries reported. The fire is still under investigation.