Tag Archives: Ohio

Office Building, Other Business

Cincinnati, OH – High rise fire in eighth floor office contained by fire sprinklers

A fire in the U.S. Bank Tower in Downtown Cincinnati caused $100,000-worth of damage Wednesday night.

Some 48 Cincinnati firefighters responded to the tower at 425 Walnut St. after a fire alarm went off shortly before 10 p.m., the department said in a press release.

The first fire companies to arrive asked dispatch to send a full high-rise complement of firefighters after determining that the alarm was sounding on the eighth floor and that smoke was visible there, the release said.

Firefighters subsequently discovered a small fire in one office that was mostly contained by the sprinkler system.

“The remaining fire was extinguished with a water can,” the release said.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.

Operating smoke detectors were in place.

The release said there was fire damage to the office, smoke damage to the eighth and ninth floors, minor water damage to the seventh floor and heavy water damage to the eighth floor.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Dayton, OH – Sprinkler system at senior apartment contains fire on 14th floor

One person was injured in a fire that broke out Monday afternoon in a unit on the 14th floor of the historic Biltmore Towers senior apartment building.

The sprinkler system in the building at 210 N. Main St. in Dayton helped contain the fire reported at 3:50 p.m. Monday, which shut down a portion of North Main Street.

One person was taken to a local hospital for possible smoke inhalation injuries and one floor sustained smoke damage.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Kidron, OH – Fire system prevents fire from spreading from boiler room at poultry processing plant; No injuries reported

The sprinkler system at Gerber’s Poultry did its job. A fire in a boiler room at the well-known Ohio poultry processor late Saturday activated an alarm, summoning the Kidron Volunteer Fire Department to the plant at 5889 Kidron Road, at 11:14 p.m., Assistant Chief Ron Taylor said.

The first officer arrived on the scene several minutes later to find no smoke or flames showing, but saw water running out under an exterior boiler room door.

Firefighters gained access to the building when the maintenance staff arrived. They found an activated sprinkler head above a fire in an upstairs area on the mezzanine. The sprinkler system had suppressed the fire and prevented it from spreading and causing further damage.

“This is why we encourage sprinkler systems,” the Fire Department wrote on its Facebook page.

Glenn Mott, vice president of compliance for Gerber’s added, “Everything worked perfectly.”

Firefighters extinguished the remaining fire with fire extinguishers.

A second alarm and the Rapid Intervention Team were canceled once the extent of the fire was determined to be under control.

Kidron Fire declared the fire out at 11:31 p.m. Crews remained on scene to do an overhaul and clean up until 12:38 a.m.

No one was in the building at the time of the incident and no injuries were reported. The damage was estimated between $5,000 and $10,000.

The Wayne County Fire Investigation Team investigated and determined the fire was caused by a malfunctioning heating unit that ignited material in an adjacent area.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Ottawa, Ohio – Fire sprinklers help put out dryer fire at nursing center

Forty-eight residents living at Autumn Court in Ottawa were temporarily displaced last Saturday following a fire at the skilled nursing center.

Ottawa Fire Chief Dan Rieman said Ottawa Fire Department responded to the fire call at 10:56 a.m. Saturday morning. Also responding to the fire were the Glandorf Fire Department and Putnam County EMS.

Rieman said it was a drier fire in the laundry room. The fire caused a sprinkler to go off, leaking water down the hallway of the nursing center. This required the residents to have to be evacuated from the facility.

The residents were initially taken across the parking lot to Ottawa Highland Lanes facility with the assistance of the Autumn Court staff members, fire volunteers, and EMS volunteers. Also responding to the scene to assist was the Putnam County Office of Public Safety and Red Cross.

Arrangements were then made to transport the residents to Ottawa Elementary School, a designated Red Cross shelter. Assisting with transportation was a bus provided by Smooth Cruises LLC and ambulettes provided by the Putnam County Office of Public Safety.

Ottawa-Glandorf staff was at the school to assist with the care of the residents. Later in the day, residents were able to return to their homes around 6 p.m.

“I want to thank everyone who helped us,” said Leticia Hull, a human resource staff member of Autumn Court. She said many Putnam County people stepped up to help in many ways on Saturday.

The website for Autumn Court describes the facility that provides 24-hour care skilled nursing, long-term care, physical, occupational and providing 24-hour speech therapies for those with behavioral issues or mental illness. And, four-hour skilled nursing, long-term care, physical, occupational, and speech therapies for those with behavioral issues or mental illness.

Other - Retail, Retail

West Union, OH – Fire contained to one wall in women’s restroom thanks to fire sprinklers

In the morning hours of Thursday, Feb. 6, an alarm was sounded at the site of the old Prather’s IGA store and the future site Adams County Workforce & Development Center. A small fire was reported but no significant damage was done to the structure.

According to reports sent to The Defender, the fire was contained to just one wall in the women’s bathroom, and it was believed to have been caused by a shirt in the bathroom’s exhaust fan. Fortunately, the sprinkler head was an estimated foot from the exhaust fan and helped quickly extinguish the small fire. The wall that was damaged was scheduled for demolition in the future remodeling of the site to become the training center and there was no damage to the roof or trusses.

According to Holly Johnson, Director of the Adams County Economic Development office, the small fire “will not impede progress” in the work on the new Training Center.

Johnson continued, “We cannot thank Officer Jason Hanson of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and Officer Brown of the West Union Police Department for their early detection of the alarm, plus all of the other law enforcement agencies and personnel that responded to the incident. West Union Life Squad personnel and the West Union Fire Department were there in full force, also assisted by the Manchester Fire Department.

Apartment Building, Residential

English Woods, OH – Trash compactor fire at apartment complex put out by fire sprinklers

Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish a fire in a high-rise apartment building on Cincinnati’s west side Wednesday morning.

Crews responded to the 1900 block of Sutter Avenue in English Woods around 7:15 a.m. following a report of flames in the basement and smoke in the atrium at Marquette Manor apartments.

Firefighters found a fire in the trash compactor with smoke spreading through the building.

The fire was upgraded due to the size of the building and the number of residents. 81 firefighters were on the scene.

District Chief Curtis Goodman says the fire was contained by the sprinkler system and quickly extinguished by fire crews.

Goodman says residents sheltered in place until smoke was cleared from the building.

One resident was treated by paramedics on the scene but did not go to the hospital. One firefighter suffered minor injuries.

Goodman says one resident tried to jump from a fourth-floor window but other residents and firefighters were able to convince that person to stay in their apartment and shelter in place.

Damage from the fire is estimated at $1,000.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Delaware, OH – Sprinkler system keeps fire in check at warehouse; No injuries reported

A fire broke out in a warehouse located at 435 Park Ave. in Delaware Monday.

The Delaware Fire Department responded to a sprinkler system alarm in the building at 4 a.m.

Delaware Fire Chief John Donahue said there was black smoke showing upon arrival, but the sprinkler system was “keeping (the fire) in check.”

A second alarm was raised for the fire, which Donahue said was because of the size of the nearly 500,000-square-foot building and the location of the fire, which he said was 75 to 100 feet into the building.

Donahue added the problem crews ran into was the product that was being stored in the warehouse, which is owned by Milwaukee-based Phoenix Investors. He said the product was shredded coconut core, which is then dehydrated and formed into small blocks before eventually being used as a filler and to hold moisture in Scotts fertilizer products.

Because the product absorbs moisture, Donahue said the packages were being expanded and eventually ripping open due to the water from the sprinklers. He said nearly 750,o00 pounds of product had to be pulled out of the area where the fire had started to ensure they had extinguished all threats.

The crew utilized two Bobcats inside the building and a trackhoe on the exterior to move the product out and away from the building.

Due to the fire still smoldering inside, the building remained charged with smoke, which led to the fire department going through air bottles quickly. Scioto Township’s air unit was dispatched with the initial call, and Donahue said Elm Valley was later brought to the scene to provide more air after his unit had exhausted Scioto Township’s cascade system.

Donahue said the crews didn’t leave the scene until 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, a nearly 22-hour day for the crew.

A final total of the damages hasn’t been assessed yet, and a cause has not been determined either as the fire is still under investigation. No injuries were reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

Huber Heights, OH – Unattended cooking fire contained to kitchen by fire sprinklers

A woman was rescued from an apartment fire Monday on Cloud Park Drive, according to District Fire Chief David Wright.

Crews responded around 4 p.m. to the 4100 block on a water flow alarm.

“When crews arrived, what they found was that they do have a water flow alarm, but the sprinkler system had activated in one of the apartments and we actually had a fire,” Wright said.

The occupant inside had fallen asleep and left food cooking on the stove.

Wright said the fire made some “good headway,” but the woman was rescued safely and only suffered some smoke inhalation.

The fire was contained to the kitchen, causing $5 to 6,000 in damage, and there is a significant amount of water on the first floor apartment due to the sprinkler.“Unattended cooking is one of the major reasons we have fires, so if you’re gonna put something on make sure you’re there to watch it at all times,” said Wright.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Dayton, OH – Fire sprinklers extinguish fire at assisted-living facility; No injuries reported

Fire crews were called late Wednesday night to The Sanctuary at Wilmington Place, an assisted-living facility.

“We had a small fire in the laundry room that was contained by the sprinkler system,” District Chief Brad Baldwin of the Dayton Fire Department said of the fire reported around 11:10 p.m. at the facility at 264 Wilmington Ave. in Dayton.

“When our crews arrived, there was a lot of smoke in the rear of the building and there was a small fire that they quickly put out,” he said.

The fire department had a full working fire response because the residents are older and many have mobility issues. However, no one had to evacuate because of the design of the facility and its sprinkler system.

“It worked exactly the way it was supposed to,” Baldwin said of the system.

The laundry area, separated from the living quarters, had fairly small damage, likely a few thousand dollars.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Jefferson, OH – Sprinkler system knocks down fire after plant explosion; No injuries reported

No one was injured in Friday night’s Worthington Industries cylinders plant explosion and fire, said Fire Chief Tom Lachey of the Jefferson Fire Department.

Employees evacuated the manufacturing plant, 863 Route 307, when a fire broke out at about 10:10 p.m. on the northwest wall and ceiling of the building.

“We feel (the cause of) it was propane-related in the heating units,” Lachey said. 

Everyone made it out safely, he said.

Area residents heard an explosion followed by sirens, making many wonder what happened.

East Jefferson Street resident Linda Masirovits said she was standing at her kitchen sink at about 10:15 p.m. when she heard a boom.

“It was a really loud, scary, long boom,” she said. “It shook our house and sounded like it was right above the roof.”

Her daughter, Wendy Stainfield, heard and felt the explosion several miles away on Webster Road in Lenox Township, she said.

Investigators believe the fire started in heating units that recirculate air throughout the plant.  

It took Jefferson Fire Department, assisted by Plymouth, Pierpont, Dorset, Austinburg and Ashtabula townships’ fire departments, about 20 minutes to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters stayed on the scene until about 1 a.m., Lachey said.

“The fire was contained; the sprinkler system went off and knocked down a lot of the fire,” he said.