Tag Archives: Pennsylvania

Other - Residential, Residential

Chambersburg, PA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at rehabilitation and wellness center; No injuries reported

Many residents of the Laurel Lakes Rehabilitation and Wellness Center have fire crews to thank for a swift response to a blaze that caused heavy smoke in the building.

According to Franklin Fire Company, the incident happened in the building at around 12:13 a.m. on Saturday.

Due to the fast response and readiness of the team, officials say the fire was contained to a commercial dryer in a utility room, which was the root of the flames.

A firefighter with the station even captured the ordeal from his perspective on camera:

Luckily, authorities say they were able to quickly “isolate gas and electric at the dryer and shut down the sprinkler system to the affected area.”

Crews say they worked with nursing staff to make sure all residents were able to safely remain inside the building during the situation.

No one was injured in the fire.

Other - Residential, Residential

Lower Merion, PA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at multi-occupancy building; No injuries reported

Fire crews in Lower Merion quickly put down a porch fire early Thursday morning at a home on the 100 block of West Montgomery Avenue in Ardmore.

The Merion Fire Company of Ardmore was called to the property at 3:30 a.m. on the report of a porch on fire at a multi-occupancy building. The sprinkler system activated and held the fire in place, so firefighters could extinguish and overhaul the fire.

All Lower Merion fire companies responded as part of the working fire procedure and staged to be ready if needed. The fire was declared under control in 15 minutes by the incident commander. There were no injuries reported.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Lower Merion, PA – Sprinkler system activated for restaurant fire; No injuries reported

 A fire broke out in downtown Ardmore Friday night, causing a brief interruption in the evening restaurant scene.

According to officials, firefighters from the Merion Fire Company of Ardmore were called to 11 Cricket Avenue Friday night at 7:24 on the report of a fire alarm.

Arriving crews found heavy smoke in the basement of the two-story building.

The incident commander declared a working fire, and all other Lower Merion fire companies responded.

A burning electrical panel was quickly controlled by both the internal sprinkler system and by firefighters.

The fire was declared under control in 50 minutes, and there were no injuries reported.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Mechanicsburg, PA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at sushi restaurant

Sakura Japanese restaurant in Silver Spring Township is temporarily closed following a small fire.

A sign posted on the restaurant’s front door at 6499 Carlisle Pike notifies diners of the closure. The owners could not be reached for comment.

Silver Spring Community Fire Company Chief Benjamin McDonald said the fire broke out early in the morning of Nov. 5. Crews didn’t have to rush to the scene, though, because the sprinkler system had extinguished the fire, he said.

The problem was that the alarm system was not set up to notify the 911 center, and the sprinklers kept going over night, causing a lot of water damage to the business. An employee noticed it when they came in the next morning.

McDonald said the fire was likely caused by a hot pan being placed on a shelf.

While there is a lot of water damage, it is repairable, he said. He estimated it’s $50,000 worth of damage, but said that was just a rough figure.

The chief said sprinkler systems definitely work and prevented this fire from spreading through the restaurant and into neighboring businesses in the plaza. But there is a lesson to be learned.

“Make sure your alarm system calls the proper authorities,” he said. “In this case, it sounded like it tried to call the contact numbers for business, but never called the 911 center to alert the fire department of issue.”

Sakura opened in 2011 and specializes in sushi, hibachi and teriyaki.

Retail, Shopping Mall

Easton, PA – Fire at mall extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A “suspicious” fire on Sunday afternoon in a lavatory behind a store near an entrance to the Palmer Park Mall was quickly put out by sprinklers but left water damage in three stores, a Palmer Township fire official reports.

The Palmer Township Municipal Fire Department responded at 4:50 p.m. to an alarm at the mall but as firefighters were on their way, people inside the mall called 911 to report an explosion and smoke inside the main entrance, Deputy Chief Jim Alercia said in a news release.

The mall was being evacuated as firefighters arrived. Shoppers and workers indicated the fire was in the IFIX and More store, which sells cell phone accessories and does minor repairs, Alercia said. The fire was contained to a lavatory in a rear stock room, Alercia said. It was put out by the mall’s sprinkler system, he added.

There was “moderate” water damage to the Claire’s and Verizon Wireless stores as well as fire damage to the lavatory and water damage to the stock room and sales floor at IFIX and More, Alercia said.

Fire personnel remained on scene to help mall staff ventilate the smoke from the stores and get the alarm system active again so the mall could open for its regular 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. hours on Monday, Alercia said.

Township fire investigators are probing what they have labeled a “suspicious fire”, Alercia said. Investigators were removing evidence in search of the cause and manner of the fire, Alercia said.

A drop ceiling, which was soaked by the sprinkler system, collapsed, making the sound that people thought was an explosion, Alercia said.

No one was hurt and Bethlehem Township firefighters and Suburban EMS assisted at the scene, Alercia said.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Hershey, PA – Fire at grocery store contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A sprinkler system stopped a fire from spreading inside a Giant Foods store in Derry Township Thursday morning.

According to Hershey Fire Chief Pat Leonard, the fire at the store on Cocoa Avenue appears to have started around 5 a.m. in machinery used to clean the floors, then spread to a compactor full of cardboard. However, the exact cause of the fire remains under investigation.

A worker discovered the fire, and employees called 911. No injuries were reported.

The sprinkler system activated and “held the fire in check,” he said.

Smoke filled the store, but there was no structural damage, Leonard said. Giant expects “pretty significant cleanup” in the back of the store, he said.

The fire was reported before the store was scheduled to open at 6 a.m. It’s closed for cleanup, according to the Hershey Fire Department.

“We are very very fortunate we had plenty of manpower from Hershey, and our mutual aid companies supplemented it,” Leonard said. “It’s a good day when we all work together.”

Apartment Building, Residential

Lancaster, PA – (no media coverage) Microwave fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Sprinklers save lives and buildings. Sprinklers turn potential really big fires into very small boring fires. A single automatic sprinkler head saved a 3 story wood frame occupied apartment house in Lancaster Township Fire Department this morning. The microwave oven caught fire even though it wasn’t in use. The occupants fled the building as the fire started spreading. The kitchen sprinkler head went off and PUT OUT the fire. We spent 30 minutes cleaning up instead of 3 hours in a water battle. 30 people have a home and a million dollar apartment building has some water damage instead of being bulldozed into a rubble pile. Sprinklers save lives and property.

Apartment Building, Residential

Stoystown, PA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at apartment building

Firefighters had to carry a Stoystown-area woman to safety late Sunday after a fire damaged a section of her apartment building.

According to Stoystown Fire Chief Dave Johnson, the woman was found semi-conscious in her bedroom and was taken to Pittsburgh’s West Penn Burn Center for treatment due to her injuries.

The late-night response meant evacuating all of the Hite House’s residents from the building to Stoystown’s fire station a block away.

“Some of the residents had to be assisted from the building, but everyone was evacuated,” Johnson said, adding that no other injuries were reported.

Stoystown fire was alerted about the blaze at 11:04 p.m., he said.

Crews arrived to find smoke inside the building and one apartment with fire damage. Fortunately, the building’s sprinkler system did its job, but crews inside had to eliminate hot spots, Johnson said.

The three-story building suffered smoke damage through much of the facility, he added.

A second evacuation had to be conducted after a fire alarm signaled inside the building at approximately 2 a.m. Monday, but firefighters determined the alarm was faulty – perhaps due to damage sustained in the fire.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation, Johnson said.

A state police fire marshal is investigating.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Camp Hill, PA – Fire sprinkler system assists in extinguishing fire at hotel; No injuries reported

The Radisson Hotel in Camp Hill caught on fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning, according to authorities.

An air conditioning unit in one of the rooms caught on fire and destroyed the entire room, while several of the nearby rooms sustained water damage from the sprinkler system.

According to the East Pennsboro fire chief there were no injuries.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Indiana, PA – Restaurant kitchen fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Indiana fire officials credited a sprinkler system with containing a fire that broke out just after midnight in the kitchen of the Villa II restaurant, 720 Philadelphia St., and allowing firefighters to prevent it from spreading to neighboring buildings.

Smoke spread from the Villa eatery into the adjacent Kim Moon Chinese & Japanese restaurant, 718 Philadelphia St. and upper level apartments at 722 Philadelphia St. above the vacant storefront last occupied by the Europa gift shop.

“Fortunately, this was only 30 seconds from the fire station, so the guys make a really quick hit,” said Ron Moreau, first assistant chief of the Indiana fire department.

Indiana firefighters ran hoses from hydrants at the Seventh and Eighth street intersections and climbed ladders to reach the rooftops to search for any extension of the fire, Moreau said.

“The majority of the heat and damage appeared to be in the kitchen area, said Third Assistant Chief David Smith, the officer in charge of the incident this morning. “The fire was held in check by the sprinkler system. We did have some extension into the roof of the structure which took up the majority of the time because the initial fire was under control in 15 minutes.”

The search for fire under the rubber roofing of the rear extension of the building stymied the crews long after the fire was out in the kitchen. Some were on the scene until about 6 a.m.

Smith said officials were “not 100 percent certain” of how the fire began and referred the investigation to the state police fire marshal office, “just as a precaution being that it is a business.”

Moreau said Villa II would be out of commission for an undetermined time for repair and cleaning. Some residents appeared to have re-occupied their apartments at 722 Philadelphia St. after firefighters controlled the fire.

Smith later said the tenants living above the restaurants also were permitted to return.

Moreau praised the fast response of neighboring companies from Homer City, Clymer, Black Lick, Creekside and Blairsville. Volunteers answered the alarms from the Indiana County 911 center at 12:35 and 12:43 a.m. and teamed up in biting, 23-degree cold to head off the fire.

“We got all of these gentlemen out there tonight because of this,” Moreau said. “We have common basements, common second floors, so whenever you have a downtown fire, you always call for help.”

Tenants of the upper-level apartments all fled safely. Paramedics from Citizens’ Ambulance Service staged from at least two medic units at the scene and said they didn’t have to treat any patients.

Two workers from Indiana Borough Public Works spread rock salt by hand in the vicinity of the fire, wherever water trickled from hose connections and posed a risk of icing on the street.

Indiana County Transit Authority sent an IndiGo bus to serve as a warming station for first responders at the scene.

Well after firefighters pulled ladders back from the buildings, but while officials still searched for possible extension of fire in the ceilings, manpower was drawn down due to an alarm for multiple fire companies on Pizza Barn Road in Derry Township. Blairsville and Black Lick fire departments responded from Indiana along with the Clyde and Tunnelton-Conemaugh Township fire companies when alarms were sounded about 2:45 a.m.