Tag Archives: Oklahoma

Apartment Building, Residential

Tulsa, OK – Sprinkler system contains fire at apartment complex until fire crews arrive; No injuries reported

Fire crews were called to the scene of a fire that broke out at the Woodward Park Apartments on Wednesday morning.

Crews were able to put the fire out just before noon and firefighters say this may an arson situation. Investigators with the Tulsa Fire Department say the exact cause of the fire is still undetermined but investigators believe it is related to someone trying to steal gas. Firefighters say a drill and a gas can were found in the garage where the fire broke out.

According to fire crews, two cars caught fire in a garage beneath an apartment unit.

Officials say the garage sprinkler system helped manage the fire until crews arrived on the scene. There was no damage to apartments and no injuries were reported. Investigators say they do not have any suspects at this time.

Apartment Building, Residential

Oklahoma City, OK – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at apartment complex; No injuries reported

Crews responded to a commercial fire at the Oklahoma City Housing Authority complex Tuesday morning in southwest Oklahoma City.

Around 8 a.m. Tuesday, firefighters responded to a smoke investigation at the Andrews Square Apartments near Southwest 22nd Street and Robinson Avenue. Crews arrived and found smoke on the fourth floor.

Authorities said firefighters went to the fourth floor and learned the flames were contained in one room. The room’s sprinkler head activated and put out the fire, officials said.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Oklahoma City, OK – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at retirement home

A small fire put out by sprinklers at an Oklahoma City retirement home caused extensive damage Saturday morning.

The fire took place on a stove at the home on Northwest 12th Street near North Harvey Avenue.

As the sprinklers took out the fire, fire officials said the home suffered extensive floor damage to the bottom floor of the multi-story complex.

Fire crews needed help removing residents from the building. Embark sent a bus to the home so residents had a place to sit as firefighters entered the structure.

One person was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation due to possible smoke inhalation.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department said the damage displaced living spaces for two of the home’s residents.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Tulsa, OK – Sprinkler system activated for electrical fire at hotel; No injuries reported

An overnight fire damaged a room at a historic hotel in downtown Tulsa.

The fire broke out around midnight on Thursday at the Ambassador Hotel near 14th and Main.

According to Tulsa firefighters, the fire started inside a room on the hotel’s top floor. Crews say it started behind an electrical outlet.

The room’s sprinkler system helped put the fire out and nobody was injured, officials say.

The Ambassador Hotel is on the national registry of historic places.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Guymon, OK – Fire inside large steel cooker contained thanks to sprinkler system

Sunday afternoon, Guymon firefighters were called to a reported fire at the Seaboard Plant. The fire was reported at 12 p.m. to 911 dispatch from workers reporting a grease fire inside the large rendering room area. Upon firefighters’ arrival, “they found heavy smoke coming from the back portion of the plant and flames from inside and atop one of the main cookers just inside the building,” said Guymon Fire Chief Grant Wadley.

The fire was located inside a large steel cooker that is approximately two to three stories tall and held an estimated 18,000 gallons of animal fat. Firefighters had to use multiple fire lines to knock down the fire then begin cooling the equipment and the entire room down. Flame damage was present to the roof and insulation from the immediate area above the cooker. “Automated sprinkler system in this area played a huge part in containing this fire and prevented any spread to the rest of the plant,” said Chief Wadley. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to just the large room of the plant where the cooker was located. No fire extended into any other area of the plant. Two Seaboard employees were treated at the scene by Guymon Fire Department paramedics for minor smoke inhalation and heat exposure. Both were treated and released. Firefighters were on scene for nearly five hours.

The cause of the fire is under investigation along with damage assessment. Guymon Fire Department worked closely with Seaboard Plant officials in handling this fire and situation. This fire was not expected to interfere with normal operations Monday morning.

Apartment Building, Residential

Oklahoma City, OK – Apartment sprinkler system puts out fire suspected to be started by a Molotov cocktail

An investigation is underway after an apartment fire officials believe was started by a Molotov cocktail.

Fire crews were called to the West Chase apartments on NW 23rd street near Ann Arbor around 12:30 AM Friday.

A witness on scene said they saw one person running, after placing a Molotov cocktail outside of a building at the complex.

The fire was small and was put out by the apartment’s sprinkler system.

No one was inside the unit at the time.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Midwest City, OK – (no media coverage) Fire sprinkler contained fire to area above bathroom at nursing home; No injuries reported

This morning at Emerald Care-Midwest City a fire started above the bathroom for one of the resident rooms.  The fire was caused by a faulting fan/lighting fixture which ignited just above the hard ceiling.  The space above the ceiling was protected by an upright sprinkler head which contained the fire to a small area above the bathroom.

The sprinkler system was under repair before the fire fighters were leaving the site.  (Shout out to Daniel Webster and Ryan Caldwell for helping the fire fighters, managers and building maintenance get the situation under control!).

The fire alarm correctly notified the authorities and activated audibles/visuals but did suffer some minor damage from water to the duct detector near the fire. (Another shout to John Deer for restoring the fire system to full service). 

There was some water damage due to the fire department and building maintenance not knowing where the sprinkler shutoff valve was located although I did see a visible note posted in the riser room and on the riser itself for its location.  Mostly standing water in rooms, corridor and a few ceilings in the rooms around the fire. (Took pictures to document and will post with report).  The maintenance engineer is 2 weeks new to the site and Anthony LaGrange was already talking with him about training before this incident occurred and he will stay with it and get them trained on their life safety systems.

Because of the quick response by the fire fighters, remediation team, electrical, mechanical, facility employees and of course our very own amazing team, many residents were able to return comfortably to their rooms late today.  This is an elderly nursing care facility and it was very important to get things normalized as fast as possible to relieve the occupants anxiety and fears.  No patients were noted to be injured during the fire, building evacuation or clean up.

Apartment Building, Residential

Oklahoma City, OK – Sprinkler system immediately puts out second floor apartment fire

Firefighters responded to an apartment fire Thursday morning in northeast Oklahoma City. 

According to authorities, the fire was near North Kelley Avenue and Northeast 23rd Street. 

Fire officials said it was a small fire that started on the second story of the apartment. The Sprinkler system immediately put out the fire. 

There is small smoke damage on the inside of the apartment, firefighters said. There is also some sprinkler damage on the inside of a first story apartment.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Norman, OK – Fire sprinklers put out fire sparked by phone charger in dorm room; No injuries reported

Students living in Couch Tower at OU had a sleepless night after a fire started in a 10th floor dorm room. It was  from a phone charger plugged into an extension cord.

It happened around 2 a.m. Friday, and many residents thought it was a prank at first.

“I’m getting ready to go to bed, and all of a sudden the alarms start going off,” Charlie Reynolds said.

“Me and my roommate thought it was a joke at first, because the rest kind of had been,” Elizabeth Wright said.

“All of sudden I see videos on everyone’s stories like, ‘Ugh, not again,’ and me and my roommate look out the window and outside is just like a bunch of people,” Alexa Perez said.

That’s when students started to realize something was going on.

“They were knocking on the doors and everyone was like, ‘Get up, you need to evacuate,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, okay,'” Lauren Kennedy said.

The sprinkler system activated after the fire started, soaking some of the rooms. The tower was evacuated. No one was hurt.

“In this case, the fire that started was right next to the bed. There were actually elements of the bed, including the mattress and sheet and coverings, that caught fire, so in this case, the fire sprinkler activating and putting the fire out actually saved the student’s life,” OU Fire Marshal Justin Daniels said.

Students had to find other places to sleep. Some slept in their cars, the storm shelter or at friends’ places.

Professors were asked to provide appropriate accommodations on finals for students who’d been affected.

“I was planning on studying this morning, so I didn’t really get that chance,” Wright said.

“I have a very important final tonight, and I need to pass it, and I’m running on very, very little sleep because of this,” Reynolds said.

“I’m honestly really tired,” Julia Wu said. “I got like an hour-and-a-half of sleep,” Perez added.

The university is working with students to address damage to belongings.

Daniels says it’s a good idea to plug chargers directly into wall outlets rather than an extension cord.