Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

Brick, NJ – Sprinkler system activated for fire at home; No injuries reported

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A sprinkler system installed during renovations at a Brick Township home helped to limit a fire at the home on Thursday morning, Brick Township fire officials said.

The home on Cedar Island Drive was unoccupied when the fire broke out, said Kevin Batzel, chief of the Brick Township Bureau of Fire Safety. There were no injuries reported.

The fire was reported about 6:30 a.m. and was confirmed by Officer Joseph Sansone, who then called in the remainder of Brick’s fire companies to fight the fire.

The fire started on the lower part of the exterior of the home, according to the preliminary investigation, Batzel said. It traveled up the house and broke through into the interior on the upper floors of the house.

He said the sprinklers had been installed as part of recent reconstruction, and sprinkler heads in bedrooms on the second and third floors activated, “which held the fire in check until the fire department arrived.”

The sprinklers slowed the spread of the fire throughout the home and “gave firefighters valuable time to extinguish the fire and minimize damage,” Batzel said.

“Residential fire sprinklers are required in some larger constructed or renovated homes such as this one,” he said, adding that they provide another layer of protection to go along with smoke detectors.

Assistant Fire Marshal Robert Kurilla is investigating.

Batzel praised Brick Township’s firefighters and thanked all of the mutual aid partners for their assistance with the fire.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Port Alberni, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for fire at secondary school; No injuries reported

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Alberni District Secondary School will reopen Friday following a fire — with the exception of one small room near the source of the blaze that needs added remediation. 

Classes were cancelled Thursday after a fire broke out before the school day started, the Pacific Rim School District said.  The school has about 1,300 students in Grades 8 through 12.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Staff and the few students on site escaped the building without incident and the situation was quickly brought under control, the district said.

The school’s water-suppression system activated immediately and the Port Alberni Fire Department was at the scene within minutes.

Fire Chief Mike Owens said the fire appears to have started in a classroom space adjacent to the school’s auto mechanics area.

Owens said the fire damage was confined to the classroom of origin.

“A lot of the fire was knocked down by the sprinkler system, so there was quite a bit of water involved,” he said.

He said the school is a concrete structure, so it handled the water better than a wooden building would have.

Fire investigators remained on scene through Thursday morning.

The building was closed for the remainder of the day to allow for cleanup.

Port Alberni firefighters received assistance at the fire from the Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire Department, the Beaver Creek Volunteer Fire Department and the Cherry Creek Fire Department.

The school district said it was “deeply grateful” for the quick response from the fire departments, “as well as the quick actions of our staff in ensuring everyone’s safety and minimizing damage.”

Apartment Building, Residential

Seattle, WA – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire on fourth floor of housing building

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A small fire in a fourth-floor bathroom at Uncle Bob’s Place on Monday was quickly put out by the building’s sprinkler system, preventing what could have been a much more serious incident.

Property managers arrived after getting an alert from the building’s alarm and sprinkler system. They found that a towel had caught fire in the bathroom. No one was home at the time, and according to the Seattle Fire Department, it wasn’t clear whether the fire was set intentionally.

No one was displaced, and damage was limited to some smoke staining in the bathroom and minor water intrusion in the unit below.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Seymour, IN – Sprinkler system activated for fire at assisted living facility; No injuries reported

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The Seymour Fire Department (SFD) was dispatched to an assisted living facility after reports of a structure fire on Monday at around 12:30 a.m.

Upon arrival, fire crews advanced an attack line while simultaneously executing a room-to-room search of the building to evacuate the residents. Many occupants had already been evacuated by the facility’s staff before SFD arrived. Firefighters and Jackson County EMS helped evacuate one bedridden patient.

Seymour Community Schools Transportation Director Tim Fosbrink provided a bus to transport the residents to a hotel where they were checked into rooms.

Upon investigation, the fire was contained to one room at the facility, and the point of origin was a wall-mounted heat/AC unit that experienced an electrical/mechanical failure. The unit was taken to the Seymour Fire Department for further examination.

The facility’s sprinkler system was activated, and the centralized alarm performed appropriately. There were no reports of injuries, and all residents were accounted for.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Newburgh, IN – Sprinkler system controls fire at business

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Fire officials say a Newburgh business fire was controlled by their sprinkler system.

They say it broke out on Monday night around 9:45 p.m. on Prospect Drive.

Officials say the business is InTerraChem LLC.

Ohio Township Fire officials say they were on scene until just after midnight to overhaul and ventilate the building.

They say the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Officials say they were helped by the Boonville Fire Department, Newburgh Volunteer Fire Department, Chandler Volunteer Fire Department, and Warrick County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Dayton, OH – Sprinkler system contains fire at laboratory; No injuries reported

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Crews from Dayton Fire, AES Ohio and the Dayton Regional Hazmat team were on scene of a lab fire Monday afternoon.

According to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch, dispatchers received a call at 4:43 p.m. for firefighters to respond to the 100 block of River Park Drive for a reported fire at the GE Aerospace facility.

Mary Ann Kabel, corporate communications director at AES Ohio, told 2 NEWS linemen crew were called to the scene to shut electricity off to the entire building.

According to DFD District Chief Nick Judge, the fire was contained to a laboratory within the building, which presented unique challenges that prompted the large response.

Due to the possibility of hazardous materials in the lab, hazmat teams were called to the scene, but crews ultimately determined there to be no need.

DFD says the fire was mostly contained by the sprinkler system by the time crews were able to make entry.

Investigation is underway regarding the cause of the fire, which seems to have started within some machinery in the lab.

No injuries were reported. Fire crews will remain on scene until investigators finish their assessment.

WDTN reached out to GE Aviation for additional information. We have not yet heard back.

Apartment Building, Residential

Collegedale, TN – Sprinkler system extinguished fire at apartment complex

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A sprinkler system prevented a major fire at an apartment complex in Collegedale Sunday, May 5.

The Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department says they were dispatched to Hawthorne at the Summit apartments around 4:30pm after a fire alarm was activated.

When crews arrived, they discovered that an unattended candle caught a towel on fire inside one of the units, which activated the sprinkler system.

The fire was out before firefighters even made it on scene.

Flames were contained to the bathroom. Two apartments sustained water damage from the sprinkler.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Terre Haute, IN – Sprinkler system activated for fire at college; No injuries reported

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Crews were called to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology over the weekend for a small fire.

On Sunday, the Terre Haute Fire Department responded to the college and found light smoke coming from a building on campus.

Fire officials said by the time crews made it inside, students had already used three fire extinguishers and the building’s sprinkler system to put out the flames.

The fire started in a grinding and sanding booth and was ruled accidental. No one was hurt.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Hollywood, CA – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire in 22-story high rise; No injuries reported

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A sprinkler system put out a fire that broke out in a 22-story high rise in Hollywood Sunday morning, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Firefighters responded to 1522 N. Gordon St., north of Sunset Boulevard, just before 11 a.m. Sunday, according to the LAFD.

“Firefighters made entry and determined there was a sprinkler activation on the 14th floor. Upon arriving on the fire floor, crews located a ‘fire out,'” the LAFD said.

No injuries were reported.

Firefighters remained on the scene to conduct salvage operations and remove water that had accumulated due to the sprinklers.

Hotel / Motel

Sprinkler System Contains Hotel Room Fire in LA

LAFD received reports of smoke emanating from a guest room at The Holiday Inn. Arriving units made entry into the hotel room to find a well involved fire confined to the guest room couch, which activated fire sprinklers.

Sprinkler activation held the fire in check to the room of origin.

A 40 y/o female was located down in the room next the smoldering piece of furniture. Firefighters quickly extricated the patient to an awaiting rescue ambulance, who transported the victim suffering from smoke inhalation.

No additional civilian injuries or hotel property damage was reported. Cause of fire is under investigation.

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