Tag Archives: Tennessee

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Maryville, TN – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at restaurant

Leave a comment

An electrical fire broke out in the kitchen of Two Doors Down, 118 E. Broadway Ave., Maryville, Monday, May 22, but had been extinguished by the time firefighters from Maryville and Alcoa arrived.

Mike Caylor, deputy chief of Maryville Fire Department, said that a call regarding the fire came in at 1:33 p.m. Monday. Firefighters arrived 3 minutes later, to find that the fire was out. The sprinkler system extinguished it, he said.

“The updated sprinkler system did its job and assisted in keeping damages to a very small minimum. No damage to the main level at all. We just have to clean up some water in other areas and double check for any other old neglected electrical components to ensure this never happens again,” a post published to Two Doors Down’s Facebook page states.

Five engines and two support vehicles responded to the fire, along with 12 personnel from MFD and three from Alcoa Fire Department.

Firefighters remained at the scene to assist with water removal and smoke mitigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Chattanooga, TN – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at apartment complex; No injuries reported

Chattanooga firefighters responded to a reported apartment fire at the Mary Walker Towers at 2505 Market Street at 3:35PM on Saturday.

No injuries were reported.

The fire was located in the kitchen of the affected apartment and was extinguished by the sprinkler system.

Several apartment units received water damage.

The Chattanooga Housing Authority is assisting the residents affected.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Franklin, TN – Sprinkler system activated for fire at restaurant

Franklin Fire Marshal Andy King ruled the fire that significantly damaged the Red Pony restaurant in downtown Franklin Saturday morning was accidental.  

The cause is still unknown, and the investigation is ongoing. 

King said Franklin Fire Department investigators are working with private investigators hired by the property insurer. Due to structural instability, they haven’t yet been able to access all areas of the building to complete their investigation. He said they hope to have more answers later this week. 

The fire started on the lower level in the rear of the historic two-story building, located at 408 Main Street. King estimated damage at $300,000.  

“While this was a big loss to our community, the damage could have been much worse,” he said. “A combination of early detection and notification, a quick response and solid tactical decisions by firefighters, and the automatic fire sprinklers led to a positive outcome.”  

King said more fire sprinkler heads activated than investigators originally thought.  

“At least four or five fire sprinkler heads activated on the first and second floors of the building, which helped to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings,” he said.

To learn more about how to equip your building with fire sprinklers and take advantage of the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act, contact King at andyk@franklintn.gov or 615-550- 6752.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Knoxville, TN – Fire in hotel room extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A Crowne Plaza hotel located on West Summit Hill Drive was evacuated early Monday after a small fire on the seventh floor that the sprinkler system extinguished, according to the Knoxville Fire Department.

KFD crews were dispatched to the hotel at 6:09 a.m. Monday for an activated fire alarm with sprinkler activation and Knox County E-911 dispatchers also received a call about the fire reporting smoke and flames on the seventh floor of the hotel. On arrival, KFD firefighters made their way to the seventh floor and discovered that the sprinkler system had put out the fire in one of the rooms, which was unoccupied.

KFD said all hotel occupants of the whole building were evacuated as a precaution. The Initial investigation revealed that the fire was quickly put out by the sprinkler system and did not appear to spread any further than the room of origin.

The hotel room has sustained heavy smoke damage, KFD said, and hallways and other common areas of the hotel sustained water damage. The building has been turned over to building maintenance. No injuries were reported.

This fire is currently under investigation by KFD officials.

Other - School / University, School / University

Fayette County, TN – Sprinkler system activated for fire at juvenile development center

Three sources in Fayette County told WREG that Somerville Volunteer firefighters were called to Wilder after a number of juveniles started a fire at Wilder Youth Development Center.

The incident happened New Year’s weekend between Saturday night and Sunday morning. WREG was told the fire turned on the building’s sprinkler system, which quickly knocked down the fire.

Velicia Brown lives near Wilder Youth Development, and she says she is concerned every time she hears about problems at the center.

“All I can say is these kids are really out of control,” she said. “This generation is really out of control.”

Wilder, which houses violent juvenile offenders, has been in the news after several reports of escapes, attempted escaped, and riots at the facility north of Somerville.

Sources say they are unaware of any injuries from the incident and did not know how much fire damage was done to the facility’s school. However, signs were displayed to alert the public of job openings at Wilder.

Brown says this is a sign that things could be improving.

“We actually need people that’s actually going to put their foot down and actually help them and motivate these kids to do better, and that way they won’t be there anymore,” she said.

We reached out to DCS but were told State offices were closed for a holiday. A spokesperson with the Tennessee Highway Patrol would only acknowledge that they received a call for assistance from Wilder.

Apartment Building, Residential

Nashville, TN – Sprinkler system activated for fire at apartment complex; No injuries reported

More than 100 people were evacuated from their homes after a two-alarm fire at an apartment complex in the Belmont area Monday night.

The fire began around 9:30 p.m. at the Belcourt Park Apartments on Belcourt Avenue.

No injuries were reported but the building has heavy water damage and smoke damage to the first and second floors while the remaining floors were not impacted, according to the Nashville Fire Department.

Fire officials reported crews arrived to find light smoke coming from the first floor of the five-story building and determined the fire was between the first and second floors, originating in the building’s community space.

Firefighters guided the residents outside though many were self-evacuating due to the fire alarm going off.

The Nashville Electric Service cut power to the building and all 76 units were evacuated for the night.

The American Red Cross was contacted to help the displaced residents. Those with pets were escorted back into the building to retrieve them before they were relocated.

“There were no real hazards other than locating the source of the fire when they arrived on scene. Between the first and second floor literally means that the fire was located in the ceiling of the floor so they had to search around for it a bit to locate the source of the fire. But as soon as they did that they were able to quickly extinguish it, but the sprinkler system did activate before we arrived on the scene. So that is going to attribute to a lot of the water damage that is going to be seen in this building,” explained Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Nashville, TN – Sprinkler system activated for fire in apartment building; No injuries reported

The Nashville Fire Department responded to a kitchen fire at an apartment in the Fifth and Broadway complex Thursday night.

Crews were dispatched to 5055 Broadway Place. A security guard from The Place Apartments told the fire department the building was evacuated after someone reported seeing flames. 

When crews arrived to the scene, they discovered a kitchen fire on the sixth floor. According to NFD, the stove was accidentally turned on and started the fire. Crews were able to get a dog out of the apartment uninjured.

During the fire, the apartment’s sprinkler system activated and water was released through the balcony to prevent extensive water damage beyond the affected unit.

There were no injuries reported from the fire.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Collierville, TN – Sprinkler system activated for fire at Target

Target in Collierville is temporarily closed for business after flames blazed inside the store Saturday.

The fire was reported just before 12:00 p.m. at Target on 325 New Byhalia Rd., according to the Collierville Fire Department.

When firemen arrived, they found heavy smoke and flames on a grocery aisle.

“Due to the location of the fire being in the back corner of the store, it took some endurance for our firefighters to quickly move back and forth from their engines to the fire. Two firefighters became overheated, were treated at the scene, and have now recovered,” said Paul Witt, Chief of Fire Prevention.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

Officials said Target will remain closed as repairs and the investigation is underway.

There is currently no reopen date.

The Collierville Fire Department responded to a fire 6/12 at 11:54 AM at Target on 325 New Byhalia Rd in Collierville. Upon arrival, crews discovered heavy smoke and a fire on a grocery aisle which activated two sprinkler heads above the fire. Customers & employees exited safely.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Sevierville, TN – Sprinkler system activated for fire at primary school; No injuries reported

Sevierville Primary School had to be evacuated briefly Friday afternoon after a small fire caused smoke to fill the area around the school’s kitchen.

According to Sevier County Schools, an appliance issue caused the smoke around 12:15 p.m. The city of Sevierville said fire crews arrived to find a basket of clothes sitting on top of a dryer on fire.

The principal evacuated the school. The Sevierville Fire Department and maintenance crews were called in to respond.

The city said the automatic sprinkler system activated and was able to extinguish most of the fire, and crews put out the rest. The area around the dryer suffered minor damage. 

No one was hurt in the incident. SCS said students returned to class about 20 to 30 minutes later.

The school system said it is sending a letter home to parents with more details about the incident.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Kingsport, TN – Fire sprinkler contains fire at food manufacturing facility; No injuries reported

The Kingsport Fire Department responded to a structure fire at a food manufacturing facility on Tri-Cities Crossing.

According to KFD Public Information Officer Barry Brickey, firefighters were called to Anita’s Snack Foods at 11:45 p.m. Thursday.

Crews had been alerted to a commercial fire alarm. They were later told the status of the alarm had been upgraded to a structure fire.

Brickey said employees at Anita’s Snack Foods attempted to put out the flames with fire extinguishers.

According to Brickey, the fire sprinkler system was able to contain the fire, with one sprinkler head dousing the flames.

When crews arrived, a smoldering fire and smoke in the building was all that remained due to the sprinkler system, according to Brickey.

Brickey told News Channel 11 that sprinkler systems are designed so that the closest sprinkler head to the fire reatcts to the heat. Often only one or two heads will react and contain a fire.

KFD extinguished the smoldering fire and hot spots and ventilated the building.

According to Brickey, there were no injuries reported.

Crews cleared the scene around 2:30 a.m. Friday. Brickey said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.