Tag Archives: North Dakota

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Fargo, ND – Electrical fire at Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant contained by sprinkler system

The Fargo Fire Department says the cause of an early morning fire at Buffalo Wild Wings on 19th Avenue North in Fargo was due to electrical equipment and that it was accidental.

It started this morning in the outdoor seating area. Damage can be seen on the outdoor bar, wall and projection screen. Damage is estimated to be around $10,000.

Fire officials say the buildings sprinkler system helped contain the fire to a small area.

According to the Fargo Fire Department the restaurant was closed when the fire occurred and that no one was in the building.

Apartment Building, Residential

Fargo, ND – Sprinklers keep fire from spreading at apartment complex

Fargo firefighters got a quick knockdown on a fire thanks to an automatic sprinkler system that controled most of the stove fire. The fire was reported just after 6 p.m. Wednesday in a second floor apartment at 5018 Amber Valley Parkway South in Fargo.

There were no injuries. The fire started when the tenant was cooking and stepped away from the kitchen. She noticed the fire when she heard her smoke detectors go off.

Battaliion Chief Tim Binfet says if the sprinklers had not activated, the fire would have spread throughout the apartment. Damage is estimated at $15,000. The Red Cross assisted the tenants with temporary lodging.

Apartment Building, Residential

Bismarck, ND – Firefighters credit sprinklers for knocking down fire in 24-unit apartment building

The Bismarck Fire Department responded to the fire alarm at 5:12 am at 3945 N 19th Street.  When firefighters arrived, smoke was spreading throughout the building and coming from heat registers.
The cause of the fire was an electrical junction box in the mechanical room.  The short caused insulation to catch on fire. Firefighters say a sprinkler in the room activated, knocking the fire down. Occupants of the building were evacuated, and there were no injuries. There was no damage outside the mechanical room. The estimated fire loss was limited to approximately $5,000.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Grand Forks, ND – Sprinkler system contains fire on 6th floor of apartment building for seniors and disabled

The fire ignited in a sixth floor apartment in the Ryan House, which houses people at least 62 years of age or with disabilities regardless of age, last Monday evening. The fire was contained to the one apartment, but there was water damage throughout the building from the sprinkler system.  The Grand Forks Fire Department determined the fire was caused by a cigarette that wasn’t properly extinguished.

Apartment Building, Residential

Fargo, ND – Vehicle fire in garage of apartment building controlled by sprinkler system

An early morning fire Thursday woke up a lot of people at the Park East Apartments in downtown Fargo.  Firefighters got a call about smoke coming from the building around 2 a.m. and found a car on fire in the garage unit, which is attached to the residential section of the building.

Fire officials say sprinkler system largely limited the fire damage to one vehicle. Vehicles parked on either side were not damaged because of the sprinkler system. Crews had the fire under control within 15 minutes of the Red River Regional Dispatch Center receiving the first 9-1-1 call.

One person was found on scene with soot stains on his face but he refused medical treatment. The cause of the fire appears to be in the vehicle, but an exact cause has not been identified.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Fargo, ND – Single sprinkler head controls warehouse fire at Sysco Foods

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.

Apartment Building, Residential

Damage minimized in apartment fire thanks to sprinkler system (Bismarck, ND)

Bismarck Fire Department Battalion Chief Jeff Holte reported that his crew was alerted to a fire at an apartment building at 2:45 PM on Wednesday, August 20. When the firefighters arrived to the scene, people were evacuating from the building. The fire, which began when a tenant inadvertently turned on a stove top while a box was on top of it, was suppressed by the building’s fire sprinkler.

“That’s what saved the whole building was the sprinkler system,” Holte said.

No one was in the unit at the time of the fire, and all occupants of the building evacuated safely.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Fire extinguished by sprinklers at high rise (Fargo, ND)

1 Comment

An unattended lit candle was the culprit for the fire which began in a 15th floor apartment on Tuesday, December 16. According to reports, the resident discovered the fire when she re-entered her bedroom; the fire had ignited her pillow and bedspread. The resident attempted to put out the flames on her own with no success. The room’s fire sprinkler system activated from the heat of the fire and put out the blaze before fire crews arrived. No injuries occurred in the entire situation.

** Blog Editor’s Note – Please let us know what you think of the coverage by the INFORUM and Archie Ingersoll, who focused on water damage rather than the lives and property saved by the automatic fire sprinkler system**