Tag Archives: Texas

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Longview, TX – Fire at manufacturing facility limited by sprinkler system

Longview Fire Chief Johnny Zackary says crews were called around 10:40 a.m. to the Crosby Manufacturing building, near Dana Way and LEDCO Drive in Longview. Zackary says by the time crews arrived, heavy black smoke was pouring from the building.

Construction crews were doing “hot work” when the fire started, removing vats that were part of the previous company’s operations. Zackary says it appears the vats were coated in residue used to put frame rails on vehicles, which was sparked by construction workers welding and cutting to remove the vats.

During the course of fighting the fire, Zackary says one firefighter fell from a catwalk; he was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation, but Zackary says it appears the injury is non-life-threatening. Employees and construction crews inside the building at the time of the fire evacuated safely and there are no injuries reported.

Fire crews are still on scene helping with the recovery process. While the building took minimal damage, thanks to the water sprinkler system Zackary says, it did fill with smoke. Zackary says firefighters will continue monitoring the building until it is safe before assessing the extent of the damage.

Apartment Building, Residential

Conroe, TX – Single sprinkler extinguishes apartment cooking fire (no media coverage)

*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE — FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED **

The City of Conroe Fire Department was notified of an apartment fire at 1200 S Frazier St. (Park At Piney Woods Apartments) at approximately 2:34 PM on December 8, 2015.

Conroe Firefighters arrived at approximately 2:40 PM and discovered that there had been a small fire in the kitchen of one of the apartment units which activated a single sprinkler head and extinguished the fire.

There were no reported injuries to firefighters or occupants of the building. Fire damage was confined to the top of the stove and the cooking container. Water damage was confined to the apartment of origin and 2 adjacent apartments. The cause of the fire was unattended cooking and was determined to be unintentional.

This incident demonstrates the importance of a properly installed and maintained automatic fire sprinkler system. It is likely that the automatic fire sprinkler system saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and property loss to the building’s owners and occupants. Further, no occupants were displaced and possible injuries and deaths to citizens and firefighters were prevented.

Automatic fire sprinkler systems have over 100 years of proven performance in protecting life and property. The City of Conroe Fire Department would like to remind the public that unattended cooking is the leading cause of residential fires in Conroe, and throughout the United States, each year. Being mindful while you cook, however, can go a long way to helping prevent these fires:

**Keep an eye on what you fry

**Be alert when cooking

**Keep things that can catch fire away from the cooking area

 

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Red Oak, TX – No injuries at Comfort Inn as sprinkler system contains fire to room of origin

No injuries are reported after a small fire Monday left behind smoke and water damage at a Red Oak hotel. Guests and employees evacuated the Comfort Inn, located in the 400 block of North Interstate 35 East Service Road, after the fire alarm sounded at about 1:21 p.m., according to Red Oak fire officials.

The source of the fire was located in a housekeeping room, officials said, and the internal fire sprinkler system contained the fire to that room. Red Oak police rerouted traffic from the service road onto I-35E while fire crews worked at the scene.

Other - Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Pasadena, TX – Sprinkler system activates to extinguish industrial chemical fire

(Fire Department Reported – NO MEDIA COVERAGE. Courtesy of City of Pasadena (Texas) Fire Marshal’s Office)

Fire Department Initial Response: On October 07, 2015, The Pasadena Fire Department along with several other agencies responded to 5000 Underwood for a reported industrial fire. Upon their arrival they discovered that a chemical explosion had occurred resulting in a fire. The buildings fire sprinkler system activated and extinguished the fire. The fire sprinkler and alarm system functioned as designed notifying the occupants of the building who evacuated.

This incident shows the importance of an automatic fire sprinkler system and demonstrates that if the building did not have an automatic sprinkler system, the outcome could have been completely different.

Furthermore there is no doubt whatsoever that at the very least the presence of a sprinkler system saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and property loss to the building owners and potentially prevented citizens and firefighters from being injured or killed.’

Automatic fire sprinkler systems have over 100 years of proven performance in protecting life and property. For further information contact: Chief David Brannon, Fire Marshal 713-475-5556.

 

Apartment Building, Residential

Pasadena, TX – Apartment cooking fire extinguished by sprinkler system; Potentially devastating fire averted

(Fire Department Reported – NO MEDIA COVERAGE. Courtesy of City of Pasadena (Texas) Fire Marshal’s Office)

On Sunday, October 11, 2015, at approximately 1815 hours, the Pasadena Fire Department was dispatched to 2907 Red Bluff Road, #309 for reports of a structure fire. This location is known as Palm Bluff Apartments. A small cooking fire was ignited on the stove top while the occupants were cooking French fries. The fire sprinkler head located in the kitchen above the stove top was subsequently activated due to the fire. The fire was promptly extinguished by the single operating fire sprinkler. Fire damage was contained to the stove top, cooking pan and vent hood above the cooking range. No injuries were reported. The fire sprinkler and alarm system functioned as designed notifying the occupants of the building who evacuated without any reported injuries.

This incident shows the importance of an automatic fire sprinkler system and demonstrates that if the building did not have an automatic sprinkler system, the outcome could have been completely different.

Furthermore there is no doubt whatsoever that at the very least the presence of a sprinkler system saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and property loss to the building owners and potentially prevented citizens and firefighters from being injured or killed.

Automatic fire sprinkler systems have over 100 years of proven performance in protecting life and property.

For further information contact: Chief David Brannon, Fire Marshal 713-475-5556.

 

Apartment Building, Residential

Houston, TX – Sprinklers help control high rise apartment fire; no injuries

A fire broke out at a high rise in Midtown Saturday afternoon. It happened just before 4:30pm in the 5000 block of Fannin.

HFD arrived to find heavy smoke on the seventh floor of the high rise and a fire in the kitchen of an apartment. The sprinkler system was activated throughout the building. A second alarm was requested at 4:44pm. The fire was declared under control just before 5:30pm.

There was heavy smoke, water damage and fire damage to kitchen in the apartment.

The woman whose apartment the fire started in, tells Eyewitness News she was using her microwave when it shorted. She said she was able to get her kids and parents out of the apartment.

There were no injuries.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

San Antonio, TX – Sprinkler system extinguishes intentionally-set restaurant fire

Police are searching for two men who skipped out on their dinner tab only to return to a restaurant and set the bathroom on fire. The incident happened on Saturday, September 19 at the Golden Wok located in the 1400 block of SW Loop 410.

Police say the men had lunch at the restaurant then left without paying the bill.

About ten minutes later, the man with a T on his hat walked back inside, headed for the restroom and set a fire, according to investigators.

The automatic sprinkler system put out the fire.

Crime Stoppers has released images of the suspects and is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to the arrests of the suspects.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Kilgore, TX – Sprinkler system contains fire at packaging manufacturer; Facility fully operational

All employees in the Pak-Sher facility Sunday night were out of the building in less than one minute after fire alarms alerted the 30 to 35 people inside to the danger.

“I actually do two fire drills a year because you never know what’s going to happen, just like what happened to us Sunday night, and the training paid off,” Pak-Sher Safety Coordinator Jeremy Spier said Tuesday morning, adding the company’s emergency response team was able to get everyone out of the building “promptly and safely.”

The fire, the cause of which is still under investigation, began in the building’s sample room between 8 and 9 p.m. Sunday night. Kilgore Fire Department responded, along with mutual aid from Sabine Volunteer Fire Department and Longview Fire Department, Assistant Kilgore Fire Chief Mike Simmons said.

“Heavy smoke was coming out of the west side of the building,” he said. By the time the fire crews responded, though, Pak-Sher President Troy Fischer said, the sprinkler systems had extinguished the majority of the fire.

The employees returned to work in the facility within two hours of the fire once they were cleared to do so by KFD, Fischer said. “We’re fully operational,” Spier said. “We’re good to go.”

With the sprinkler system and the firewalls, he said, the fire was contained to the sample room and did not affect the connected training room. “We do have some minor fire damage, some smoke and water damage as well,” Fischer wrote in an e-mail Monday night.

Even with 18 years of experience as a firefighter, Spier said, there is no way to truly prepare for an emergency, such as a fire.

“You can bring safety measures. You can do anything you can imagine and you think is 100 percent safe, but then again, in the safety business, it’s always ‘what if?’,” Spier said. “We were prepared as much as we can be prepared – our sprinkler systems were there, fire alarm went off. Everything worked like it was supposed to, so we were prepared that way. Absolutely. Everybody knew their emergency exits. Everybody got out like they were supposed to and in a very timely manner.”

Fischer explained the sample room is in a remote area of the building away from production space.

Although it has not been decided, Spier expected another room to be set up as the sample room because the current room will require more work, including new ceiling tiles, sheetrock and insulation.

“Thankfully it was not a bigger situation, and thankfully no employees were in any imminent danger,” Fischer said.

Kilgore Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Amanda Nobles said she and others at Kilgore EDC were grateful for the fire departments’ work.

“Pak-Sher is a valuable and primary employer in our community, and we hope that everything works out for them, and we’re glad there certainly was not more loss of property and absolutely no loss of life or injuries,” she said.

Nursing Home/Senior Living

Plano, TX – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in controlling nursing home fire; No injuries reported

Firefighters responded to a Plano nursing home Saturday morning after receiving a call about smoke from an employee at Life Care Center of Plano, in the 3800 block of W. Park Boulevard.

The employee called 911 at 8:47 a.m. to report that fire alarms were sounding and that senior residents were being removed from the property.

When Plano Fire-Rescue crews arrived, they discovered a haze of smoke in one of the main hallways and a lot of smoke inside a glassed-in laundry room, according to Capt. Peggy Harrell, department spokeswoman. It is believed that the fire started in a clothes dryer.

“This is what we call a high-occupancy load, where there are lots of people in a building and in a place where there are lots of seniors who might not be able to evacuate themselves,” she said. “We took extra precautions.”

Harrell said the nursing home had good evacuation procedures in place, but once investigators located the fire and determined how far it was from the residential hallways, no evacuation had to take place and residents were able to return to their rooms.

“We were able to close the fire doors and keep the room where the fire was isolated,” she said. “A sprinkler head kept the fire in check, and firefighters brought in the handline to put the remaining fire out.”

Harrell said investigators discovered an armload of clothes on fire in the affected dryer, but the exact cause of the fire has not been determined.

No injuries were reported, but Harrell said a rescue squad was on the scene to check out anyone who may have come close to the smoke.