All posts by viking210

Apartment Building, Residential

Harrisburg, PA – Single sprinkler keeps apartment fire from spreading

A single fire sprinkler kept a kitchen blaze from spreading through a Harrisburg apartment complex on Monday night, city fire Chief Brian Enterline said. Crews responded to a building fire call in the 200 block of Mary Street at about 5:08 p.m. and found smoke pouring from a second-floor apartment.

However, firefighters found that a fire sprinkler head, which activates when the temperature reaches 155 degrees, quickly extinguished the blaze and stopped it from spreading to adjoining apartments, Enterline said. No one was injured, and Enterline credited the sprinkler for preventing what he called “catastrophic consequences.”

Firefighters used a ventilation fan and a wet/dry vacuum to help clean up the damage. Two apartments took on water damage and apartment management is assisting residents displaced by the fire. Affected residents should be able to return to their apartments by the end of the week, Enterline said.

“This fire could have had catastrophic consequences to both lives and property had it not been for the fast work of a single operating fire sprinkler head, which quickly contained and extinguished the fire,” Enterline said. “Firefighters were able to literally fight this fire with a fan and mop bucket.”

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise

Hibbing, MN – Single sprinkler contains early morning fire at senior high rise apartment building

A fire at Hibbing’s Androy Building Sunday morning drew a full response from the Hibbing and neighboring fire departments. But when they arrived, they found the fire had already been contained by a single sprinkler head.

The Androy Building houses senior high-rise apartments, an Elks Club banquet center and an orthodontics clinic. According to the Hibbing Fire Department, firefighters arrived shortly before 6 a.m. when an automatic fire alarm was triggered. The found smoke coming from a vent near the kitchen of the Elks Club and tenants starting to to evacuate the building.

Inside, crews found smoke in the Elks side of the building but the fire down to a smolder. Crews put out the remaining smoldering material and ventilated the smoke from the banquet room. By 7:10 a.m., it was deemed safe enough to allow tenants back in.

Hibbing Fire Marshal Bryan Fagerstrom determined the case was accidental — a steam table had been left on which overheated and ignited the wood buffet table. He stressed the importance of having a properly maintained sprinkler system. “The sprinkler system in this fire was serviced and maintained per code and did exactly as it should by containing the fire and keeping it from spreading,” he said in the release.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Paia, HI – Firefighters credit sprinkler system in controlling restaurant blaze

Maui fire officials credit fire sprinklers for keeping a fire from spreading at a year-old Paia restaurant last Friday. At 11:11 a.m., firefighters responded to a reported structure fire at the Rock & Brews restaurant, at 120 Hana Highway.

Firefighters were on scene two minutes later and saw light smoke coming from the restaurant, according to fire officials. Employees reported hearing a loud pop then saw smoke in the air, and workers and patrons were evacuated.

Investigation found that the fire sprinklers had been activated in the attic space above the restaurant. Fire crews quickly entered the ceiling area and had the fire extinguished by 11:27 p.m, officials said.

Fire Capt., Ben Bland, said “It’s a true testament that fire sprinklers really do work and can make a difference to extinguish or slow a fire until fire department arrival. Fire sprinklers effectively prevented this fire from spreading throughout the attic and to the rest of the building.”

The fire was determined to be accidental and caused by a fault in electrical wiring. Damages were estimated at $10,000 to structure, $10,000 to contents. No injuries were reported.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Rowesville, SC – Sprinkler system aids firefighters in challenging industrial fire

North American Container is cleaning up after a blaze early Saturday morning.  The Rowesville Fire Department responded to the Garland Road facility at about 2:30 a.m. following the report of an explosion, Orangeburg County Chief Fire Operations Officer Teddy Wolfe said.

The first units reported heavy fire near an exterior wall of a building at the facility.  The facility had a working sprinkler system that activated and was able to hold the fire at bay until firefighters were able to assemble for an interior fire attack, Wolfe said.

LP gas cylinders near the fire exploded, leading to structural damage near the source from both the explosions and heat. The large amount of stacked wood products created a challenge for firefighters during salvage and overhaul, Wolfe said.

More than 35 firefighters responded in all. Wolfe said one person received a very minor injury after the initial attack. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

North American Container Corp. employs 400 people in the manufacture of bulk shipping containers.

Apartment Building, Residential

Wilmington, NC – Sprinkler system contains apartment fire to kitchen; No injuries

Wilmington Fire Department crews responded to an apartment fire located at 106 N. Water St around 2:45 p.m. Saturday. Battalion Chief Chris Nelson said a sprinkler system located in the apartment controlled the fire, keeping it contained to the kitchen where the fire started, until firefighters arrived on scene.

The occupant was home at the time, but no one was injured. A total of seven trucks responded as well as units from NHRMC EMS and Wilmington Police Department.  Nelson said there was minimal fire damage to the apartment and some water damage to apartments below where the fire started.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Napa, CA – Sprinkler puts out fire in hotel caused by unattended candle

A lit candle on Friday morning ignited a hand towel in a guest room at the River Terrace Inn on Soscol Avenue, according to the Napa Fire Department.  The hotel was evacuated. There were no reported injuries.

Firefighters, who responded to the fire at 11:17 a.m., found an operating fire sprinkler-head in the bathroom of an occupied room on the third floor, said Fire Marshal Darren Drake.

The sprinkler put out the fire, he said.  One room was damaged, and 74 out of 105 rooms were rented when the fire broke Friday morning, Drake said.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

North East, MD – High school has second sprinkler save in six weeks; Dryer fire extinguished

A commercial dryer caught fire in a Rising Sun High School laundry room on Wednesday night, sending dozens of firefighters and several pieces of equipment to the scene, according to school officials.  The small fire in the malfunctioning dryer was quickly extinguished by a sprinkler head above the appliance, school officials said, adding that it also activated a smoke alarm. The fire call occurred about 9 p.m.

The school was open on Thursday for a regular schedule, thanks to cleanup and ventilation efforts.  There was no fire or water damage to the school at 100 Tiger Drive, off Route 272, in Calvert, school officials said. The sprinkler, however, did leave water on the hallway floor near the laundry room, which is located at the north end of the building.

Firefighters were sweeping that standing water out a back door on Wednesday night. They also were running industrial fans to ventilate the smoke inside the building.  A Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office investigator arrived late Wednesday night and started an investigation to determine how the dryer fire started.

The dryer fire on Wednesday night has no connection to an electrical system fire in March, which was also contained by the school’s automatic sprinkler system.

(BLOG NOTE: Media report incorrectly stated that smoke caused the sprinkler to activate. Sprinklers are heat activated. Only the intense heat from a potentially damaging and deadly fire can cause this type of sprinkler system to operate)

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Suffolk, VA – Overnight fire at Hilton Garden Inn extinguished by sprinkler system

Officials had to evacuate the Hilton Garden Inn on Harbour View Boulevard after a fire broke out at the hotel overnight.  Suffolk Fire & Rescue and Suffolk Police responded to the hotel in the 5900 block of Harbour View Boulevard, shortly after 2 a.m. Friday.

When firefighters arrived, the building had already been evacuated and the sprinkler system had extinguished the flames.  Officials say the fire started in the kitchen and the guest lobby was filled with smoke. However, there was no structural damage. There were no injuries and all guests on the first floor were relocated.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Cartersville, GA – Sprinkler system suppresses possible meth lab fire at hotel

An explosion that left a bathroom door lying in the middle of a hotel room had markers of a methamphetamine lab, according to a drug official.

Emergency officials responded about 8 p.m. to Cartersville North Inns & Suites, 11 Kent Drive in Cartersville, after reports of an explosion blew the door off and activated the sprinkler system. “We responded to a possible meth lab explosion. It has some signatures of a meth lab explosion, but I won’t know until we get a search warrant to be able to get into the room and isolate that,” Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force Commander Capt. Mark Mayton said, declining to detail the signatures present at the scene.

Bartow County Fire Department Capt. Mike Kimbrel said crews responded to the third floor room to find no fire but other indicators of what may have occurred. “There was no fire. We suspect the sprinkler system suppressed it … worked like it was supposed to,” he said. “… There was an odor they encountered. Everything we were doing was just precautionary, making sure no one was contaminated, everybody was accounted for.

“We’ve been told it was an explosion. … I don’t know that somebody didn’t just kick the door in. According to my crews, the door was off the hinges. I was just up there and there was a door laying in the floor of the bedroom.” Authorities conducted a partial evacuation and hotel employees on scene Wednesday night were shifting guests to other floors as necessary.

“We have secured the immediate area to make sure there was no contamination to other guests that were in the building. We’ve evacuated the entire floor that this happened on,” Mayton said. The occupants of the room were not at the scene and, as of press time, were not in custody. Mayton declined to comment on their identity.

While waiting for a search warrant for the room, Mayton said the investigation would determine whether the room’s occupants were indeed manufacturing meth. “It’s going to depend on what we find in there. The air is going to have to be sampled. We have to use air monitoring equipment just to make sure there’s no explosive levels of gases in there,” he said. No injuries were reported, although authorities were in contact with area hospitals for possible patients with chemical burns.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Portage, MI – Fire at Stryker Medical extinguished by sprinkler system

Stryker Corp. had to be evacuated Wednesday evening after a fire broke out in one of the building’s machine shops.  At 6:32 p.m. Wednesday, the Portage Fire Department responded to reports of a fire alarm activation in Stryker Medical, located at 3800 E Center Avenue in Portage, according to Portage Battalion Chief Rick Nason.

Within 64 seconds, the first fire crew arrived on scene and witnessed the company’s employees evacuating the building, though “reported nothing showing on the building’s exterior,” Nason said.

Inside, investigators discovered smoke billowing in one of the building’s machine rooms, located on the west side of the structure.  “We responded non-emergency to the alarm and upgraded the call,” Nason said, adding three engines responded to the scene after firefighters discovered the smoke, as well as water spread by the company’s sprinkler system.

“It was a big enough fire to set off the system, but it was contained,” Nason said, adding the sprinkler system extinguished the blaze. “There’s some plastic that’s burned up, next to a machine,” Nason added of the damages sustained during the fire.

Firefighters worked for more than an hour clearing water and smoke from the building. No one was injured during the incident. The cause is under investigation.