All posts by viking210

Apartment Building, Residential

Rapid City, SD – Apartment deck fire extinguished by sprinkler system

The Rapid City Fire Department is crediting an apartment complex’s sprinkler system with rapidly extinguishing a noon Sunday fire that could have spread to other parts of the building.  According to a release from the department, firefighters went to a fire on an apartment unit’s deck at 2871 Belgrade Blvd., Rapid City.

A single heat-activated sprinkler head put out the fire. There were no injuries, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.  In the release, Oliver White, the department’s spokesman, wrote: “Here we see a fire that easily could have spread into the building, but it didn’t.”

Apartment Building, Residential High Rise

Orange, CA – Overnight high-rise apartment fire suppressed by sprinklers; potential disaster averted

(Blog Note: Please let us know what you think of this journalist’s focus on water damage rather than the lives and property saved by the sprinkler system in this overnight, high-rise fire).   Orange police and fire officials responded around 12:15 a.m. to reports of a structure fire at the Community Garden Towers in the 4000 block of West Garden Grove Boulevard, and found smoke coming from the fourth floor, officials said.

Authorities found a mattress on fire on the floor and the flames activated the sprinkler system in the building. Authorities said the building was evacuated and electricity may have been briefly turned off, but residents were able to re-enter the building shortly after the fire was extinguished.

Orange police initially detained a man who lives in the unit where the fire started on suspicion that he may have intentionally started it, Deputy Fire Marshal Casey Fieldhouse said.

But he was later released and not arrested, police Sgt. Phil McMullin.  Three people were displaced due to the damage and were assisted by local Red Cross officials. Authorities did not initially release the cause of the fire or damage estimates.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

LaVerkin, UT – Sprinklers assist firefighters in weekend fire at manufacturing plant

Agencies from around Southern Utah responded to a structure fire at SKF Manufacturing on Center Street in LaVerkin Saturday.  Firefighters were paged out to the fire at about 1:30 p.m., Hurricane Valley Fire Chief Tom Kuhlmann said.  The building has a sprinkler system in place, which came on during the fire, and firefighters backed up the sprinklers with hoses to control the blaze.

Dawn McDowell, SKF Manufacturing’s operations manager, had been alerted about the fire by an alarm company and arrived at the scene about the same time the firefighters did. She was able to unlock the building, which had been closed down for the weekend, so the firefighters didn’t have to force entry.

When responders got to the building, there was smoke pouring out of the windows, and they had to send a team in to track down the location of the actual fire.  The team ended up finding the fire had originated in the area of one of the processing machines in the back corner of the building, Kuhlmann said.

The responders had the fire controlled by 2:30 p.m. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Kuhlmann said, and the extent of the damage is not yet known as this report is published. There were no people in the building at the time the fire started, so no injuries resulted from the incident.  The fire was contained to the inside of the building.  McDowell said that in the 24 years she has worked at SKF, there have been no other fires there. SKF’s factory in LaVerkin manufactures hydraulic seals, she said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Hilton Head, SC – Port Royal apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Interior sprinklers extinguished a fire in a unit at Laurel Hill Apartments in Port Royal Saturday, likely preventing the fire from spreading, Beaufort Fire Chief Sammy Negron said.

However, damage from the fire, smoke and water forced the four apartment residents out of the unit. The local Red Cross is providing assistance.

At about 2:30 Saturday afternoon, firefighters from the Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department responded to a fire call at 1640 Ribaut Road, the Laurel Hill Apartments. Upon arrival, firefighters found the fire limited to one apartment unit.

“The building’s sprinkler system worked as it is supposed to and extinguished this fire before it had a chance go grow and spread,” Negron said. “Properly installed and maintained, these types of automated fire suppression systems save lives and property, and we saw that at this apartment fire.”  Also responding to the blaze were the Port Royal Police and Burton Fire District.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Los Angeles, CA – Fire at UCLA engineering building contained by single sprinkler

A small electrical fire broke out at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering on the UCLA campus in Westwood on Saturday, but it was held in check by a sprinkler and was out when firefighters arrived, authorities said.  No injuries were reported and no one was evacuated as a result of the fire, which was reported just after 4 p.m.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Port Deposit, MD – Fire at restaurant in historic building contained by sprinkler system

Investigators are blaming an electrical malfunction for a fire inside a Port Deposit restaurant and bar on Thursday morning, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office.  “The sprinklers contained the fire to the area of origin. Without a doubt, it stopped the fire from spreading,” Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver J. Alkire said.

About 30 firefighters with volunteer fire companies from Port Deposit, Perryville and Rising Sun rushed to Joe’s Grog House at 26 S. Main Street about 9:20 a.m., after smoke alarms inside the business activated, fire officials said, adding that the business was not open at the time.

 “There was smoke showing when we arrived,” said EMS Chief Wayne Tome of the Water Witch (Port Deposit) Volunteer Fire Company.  It took firefighters approximately 20 minutes to bring the fire and heavy smoke under control, which involved ventilating the building with fans, Tome said.

Alkire determined that the blaze started inside a section of the actual bar, where patrons stand or sit and order drinks and food, he said. Alkire concluded that wiring inside that bar wall had malfunctioned, sparking the fire, he added. That section of bar is near one of the establishment’s front doors. “The fire has been ruled accidental due to an electrical failure,” Alkire said.

He and Tome both noted that a sprinkler system inside Joe’s Grog House activated and prevented more extensive damage.  Joe’s Grog House occupies the first-floor of an historic three-story building, Alkire said, adding that 16 tenants live in seven apartments on the second and third floors of that structure.

“Electricity was restored to the building, and no tenants were displaced as a result of the fire,” said Alkire, who noted that the volunteer firefighters quick response after the smoke alarms alerted also was a key factor.  Tome echoed Alkire, remarking, “The sprinklers definitely held the fire in check until we could get there. That’s why sprinklers are so important.”

Other - Retail, Retail

Bixby, OK – Sprinklers contain fire at bicycle shop after truck crashes into building

Bixby crews were on the scene of a fire at Bixby Bicycles after a pickup truck crashed inside around 5 a.m. Saturday.  The deputy chief with Bixby fire told said the businesses at The Market Place Center were without water until just before 10 Saturday morning.

Crews blocked off the rear exit of Bixby Bicycles where the pickup truck crashed through the building near 111th and Memorial.   The deputy chief said that it was the sprinkler system that kept the fire from spreading to the other units.

The crash didn’t cause any structural damage to the strip mall.  The bicycle shop was supposed to open at 10 this morning, but the owner says they’re still open for business.  He says they have a warehouse on the other side of their bicycle shop that they can operate out of.  Police are searching for the driver who crashed into the building.

Other - Storage / Warehouse, Other Business

Pottstown, PA – Sprinkler system activates to help save auto restoration business from overnight fire

Seven fire companies responded to an early-morning alarm at the Eastwood Co. warehouse on Robinson Street Thursday for a blaze at the auto restoration supplier.  Pottstown Fire Chief Richard Lengel said the alarm sounded at 4:52 a.m. when the sprinkler system at the business  tripped.

The fire was caused by a malfunction in the conveyer system, although it’s not exactly clear how that happened, Lengel said. All four of Pottstown’s fire companies — Goodwill, Empire, North End and the Phillies — responded to the scene as did Sanatoga, West End and Limerick fire companies from neighboring communities, Lengel said.

New Hanover and Ringing Hill were on call while the fire was being fought. The fire itself was “not very big, it was under control by 5:21 a.m.,” Lengel said.  The primary problem for firefighters was finding the flames.  “The sprinkler did its job, so the place was filled with smoke and we had a hell of a time finding the actual fire,” Lengel said. 

Because of all the automotive restoration products in the building, and the chemicals they contain, Lengel said the firefighters used air masks for the first hour as a precaution.  Estimating the damage is difficult, Lengel said, because he does not know the value of the conveyer system, “which may be computerized, I couldn’t be sure” and because of the amount of water damage done to very specialized automotive products.

 “But without the sprinklers, we wouldn’t have a building, and we would still be there now, and tomorrow and maybe the next day,” Lengel told The Mercury Thursday evening. “I’m serious, that’s a high-rack warehouse in there and who knows how long some of that stuff might have burned.” 

Eastwood Co., a supplier of auto restoration materials started out in Philadelphia in 1978 and has since made its headquarters just off Shoemaker Road in Pottstown. 

Other - Retail, Retail

Portsmouth, NH – Sprinkler system limits damage in overnight fire at auto body shop

A radio likely sparked an early morning fire at an auto body shop that would have caused about $100,000 in damage, if not for a working sprinkler system, said Fire Chief Steve Achilles.  Firefighters responded to the Portsmouth Autobody Center at 4:36 a.m. Wednesday when an alarm sounded from the 700 Peverly Hill Road business, said the fire chief. When they arrived, it took firefighters about 15 minutes to locate the fire because it was in back of the main building, inside a separate 200-foot by 120-foot metal building, Achilles said.

Firefighters had to force their way into the locked and smoke-filled building and one firefighter injured his hand while making entry, according to Achilles. He was treated at Portsmouth Regional Hospital and released, the chief said.  Once inside, firefighters “used a line to knock down the remaining fire,” said Achilles. An investigation concluded with a theory that a radio, or a wire to a radio, started the fire inside a storage cabinet, Achilles said. No vehicles or people were in the building at the time, he said.