Tag Archives: Tennessee

Apartment Building, Residential

Sprinklers save lives and property in apartment fire (Hendersonville, TN)

An early evening fire erupted in the unit of an apartment when grease caught on fire while the tenant was cooking. The fire flared up, which then activated the fire sprinklers; the sprinklers contained and then eliminated the blaze while the resident and her daughter evacuated the apartment. 

According to Fire Marshal Chuck Swann of the Hendersonville Fire Department, the fire could have been much worse had the sprinkler system not been present to activated immediately. 

“Dry wall (that sustains water damage) can be replaced,” he said. “Lives lost to a fire can’t.”

Apartment Building, Residential

Sprinkler helps save apartment building from fire (Knoxville, TN)

Firefighters responded to a fire at an apartment complex during the early hours of Saturday morning. After seeing flames outside of a sixth floor apartment unit, they came up to extinguish the blaze. They were met with smoke, with the fire sprinkler having put out the majority of the fire. No injuries were reported, and the fire’s cause remains under investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Assisted living facility fire contained by sprinkler system (Oak Ridge, TN)

According to Tennessee fire officials, the residents of Park Ridge Assisted Living are grateful for the sprinkler system in their building after a fire began on Friday, January 31. Thanks to the fire sprinkler system, residents were able to safely evacuate the building, and the damage to the building was contained to one room.

“The damage to the building was minimal, and no residents were displaced,” Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. “Without the sprinkler system, we believe the outcome would be very different.”

Since 2003 the state of Tennessee mandated that fire sprinkler systems be installed in all nursing homes. 

“The adoption of sprinkler system legislation has no doubt saved countless lives,” said Assistant Commissioner for Fire Prevention Gary West. “The lifesaving capabilities of these systems can be the difference during a fire.”

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Fire at manufacturing plant extinguished thanks to fire sprinklers (Chattanooga, TN)

NWA Plastics Company reported a fire on the afternoon Wednesday, January 8, when a motor used to power an air compressor overheated and caught on fire. The heat from the fire then activated a sprinkler head from the facility’s fire sprinkler system which then completely suppressed the fire prior to the arrival of six fire companies. No injuries were reported, and the damage was minimal.

Apartment Building, Residential

Clothes dryer fire in apartment controlled with help from sprinkler system (Cookeville, TN)

The sprinkler system in an apartment on Buffalo Valley Road stopped a fire that started in a dryer there Saturday from spreading to other areas of the home, fire officials say.  Crews were called to at around 11:30 Saturday after residents in an apartment there discovered that a fire had started in their dryer, Capt. Matt White said.  The apartment was equipped with a residential sprinkler system.“The sprinkler system did exactly what it was supposed to do,” White said. “When the flames started coming up and got the sprinkler head hot enough, it discharged and the water put most of it out except just a little bit inside the dryer.”

Apartment Building, Residential

Fire at apartment complex controlled by sprinkler system (Murfreesboro, TN)

Murfreesboro Fire & Rescue Department’s District 9 responded to a kitchen fire at Victory Station Apartments just before 7:30 Tuesday evening.  When crews arrived to the apartment complex, the fire was already extinguished by the sprinkler system. Two families were displaced due to water damage, but did not require assistance from the Red Cross.

According to Captain/Shift Inspector Mark McCluskey, the fire appeared to have started in the kitchen area. “The sprinkler system kept fire damage to a minimum,” McCluskey said.
No one was injured during this incident.

Other - School / University, School / University

Fire sprinklers prove worth in college apartment fire (Nashville, TN)

A fire which began in the kitchen of one of Vanderbilt University’s apartment units was quickly extinguished by the building’s fire sprinkler system on the afternoon of Saturday, October 6. The suspected cause of the fire was an unattended pan on a heated stove which then ignited. All of the resident’s were able to evacuate the apartment safely, and no one was injured.