Apartment Building, Residential Albemarle, NC – Sprinkler system keeps apartment fire from spreading; Saves occupant’s life according to Fire Chief May 26, 2018 viking210 An Albemarle Fire Department official says a sprinkler saved a life May 19, but he urged residents about the dangers of unattended food left cooking. Albemarle fire units were sent to an alarm at 3:24 a.m. Saturday at 219 E. North St. in the Central School Apartments. “Our units arrived on the scene to find a sprinkler head that activated and extinguished a fire in the kitchen area of one of the apartments,” said Fire Chief Shawn Oke. “The fire was started from unattended grease left on the stove,” Oke added. “One of the occupants discovered the fire on the stove and moved the burning pan to the sink before the sprinkler activated and controlled the fire. The fire was controlled by the activation of one sprinkler head. Thanks to the sprinkler activation the fire damage was contained to the apartment where the fire originated.” Oke said damage to the apartment and its contents is estimated at $30,000. The fire chief reminded everyone to not leave anything on the stove unattended. “If you have to leave the kitchen, remove the item on the stove from the burner,” Oke said. “It only takes a short period of time for an unattended pot to start a fire, especially if the pot contains cooking oil. “It is also recommended that you don’t ever store anything on top of your burners as the knobs can be bumped and accidently turned on resulting in a fire.”
