Other-Government/Military Wilmette, IL – Storage room fire at public works garage controlled by sprinkler system; Damage minimized September 9, 2016 viking210 Wimette’s fire chief is crediting sprinklers for keeping a Tuesday storage room fire at the Wilmette public works garage from potentially engulfing the entire building. The garage at 711 Laramie Ave. in west Wilmette sustained an estimated $15,000 damage in the incident, which was called in as an alarm shortly after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to Fire Chief Mike McGreal, but the cost could have gone much higher, he said Sept. 7. He praised village administrators and fire prevention bureau officials who decided a little over eight years ago, at the time the village added an addition to the public works building, to retrofit the garage with a sprinkler system. “They didn’t have to, but they had the forethought to do it,” McGreal said. “That is a multimillion dollar facility, plus the vehicles in the garage that are very expensive, and very difficult to replace. In minutes, this could have been a total loss if there hadn’t been a sprinkler system.” Had flames from the storeroom not been dampened by sprinklers, they could have spread to the building’s wooden roof, he said. The 15,400-square-foot public works garage houses most of the village’s public works vehicles and equipment, including front end loaders, back hoes, dump trucks and sewer vac trucks, he said. Wilmette’s daily public works services would have suffered significant problems if that equipment had been lost in a fire, he said. McGreal said fire crews that responded to the alarm found the sprinklers in use and smoke coming out the garage’s main bay. They upgraded the alarm, which called in help from the Winnetka, Northfield, Evanston, Glenview, Skokie, Morton Grove and Highland Park fire departments. However, fire crews found most of the fire under control in a storage room used by the village’s sewer department, where it appeared to have started, he said. Crews put out the remaining flames, and the incident was cleared by 4:15 p.m. There were no injuries, Engineering and Public Works Director Brigitte Berger said Tuesday. Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fire, McGreal said. “All’s well that ends well,” McGreal said. “They’re back in business and they’re cleaning it up now.”
Government/Military, Other-Government/Military Fort Lauderdale, FL – Sprinkler system assist firefighters in extinguishing fire at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood Airport August 20, 2016 viking210 Because of a small fire in an employee break room, Terminal 1 at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport was briefly evacuated Thursday morning, officials said. Allan Siegel, a spokesman for Broward County Aviation, said the fire caused a sprinkler system to go off and emergency personnel were able to quickly put the fire out. There were no immediate reports of injuries and the cause of the fire was being investigated. By shortly after 10 a.m., security personnel were being called back to their stations in order to resume passenger screening, Siegel said.
Government/Military, Other-Government/Military Muncie, IN – Truck fire in city garage contained by sprinkler system; No injuries February 3, 2016 viking210 Crews were called to the scene of a Muncie Street Department building Tuesday morning in response to a fire. Crews arrived at a building in the 5700 block of West Kilgore Avenue. The call came is as a “truck on fire inside the city streets garage” around 9:30 a.m. A plow truck was sitting in the garage to keep it out of the weather when employees heard a “whooshing” sound. Fire erupted underneath the hood of the engine compartment. The fire was contained to the truck, and the building’s sprinkler system did its job. There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Government/Military, Other-Government/Military Ocean City, MD – Sprinklers praised for stopping fire at town’s Service Center Warehouse December 3, 2015 viking210 Fire sprinklers in an Ocean City building are attributed to a quickly put out fire last week. Around 1:30 a.m. Nov. 22, the Ocean City Fire Department was dispatched to an automatic fire alarm at the town’s Service Center Warehouse on 65th Street, according to a press release. “By these two fire sprinklers activating, city ambulances, police cars, busses, street sweepers, and other essential equipment was saved,” Fire Marshal David W. Hartley said in the release. “This example shows the huge impact sprinklers have not just in a home, but also in reducing the average loss of property during a fire in a commercial structure.” When firefighters arrived, they found the 12,000 square foot vehicle garage filled with smoke. The call for service was upgraded to a building fire, according to the release, which brought additional fire and EMS resources. Firefighters found two sprinkler heads that were activated extinguished the fire before the department was dispatched. On-scene investigation showed the fire started due to a machine malfunction and was classified accidental. The building was unoccupied at the time of the fire.
Other-Government/Military, Restaurant Montrose, CO – Fire at airport restaurant put out with help from sprinkler system September 14, 2015 viking210 A small fire broke out at the Montrose Regional Airport Wednesday morning. The airport’s Director of Aviation tells us it happened early Wednesday morning in the kitchen of a restaurant inside the terminal. No one was inside the kitchen at the time of the fire and the sprinkler system helped put it out. The airport is still operating as normal. There was minimal damage to property and no threat to public safety. Airport operations were not impacted and cleanup is underway. County Manager Ken Norris says they hope to have the restaurant back open by Saturday for their Tribute to Aviation event.
Other-Government/Military Huntsville, AL – Fire at U.S. Space & Rocket Center put out with help from sprinkler system September 7, 2015 viking210 Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a small fire that broke out at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center last Wednesday night. The fire broke out around 8:30 p.m. in a workroom inside the main museum building. Pat Ammons, media and public relations manager for the center, said that the building’s sprinkler system got a jump start on extinguishing the blaze and that Huntsville firefighters finished the job within minutes of the alarm. “Everybody was just so responsive,” Ammons said. Fire damage is seen inside a workroom at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, where a small blaze ignited Wednesday night. No one was injured in the fire, and the cause is still under investigation. (Contributed by U.S. Space & Rocket Center) Though smoke filled the building and there was some electrical damage, which knocked out the center’s phone lines through the day Thursday, the damage was minimal, Ammons said. There were people inside the building at the time of the fire, including a group of about three dozen Space Camp trainees, but no one was near the area of the fire. The Space & Rocket Center was also hosting Wing Ding 37, an annual gathering of Gold Wing owners, but Wednesday night’s reception was being held in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. The center opened as usual at 9 a.m. Thursday morning
Other-Government/Military Yuma, AZ – Sprinklers knock down fire at Department of Transportation garage July 2, 2015 viking210 On Wednesday, just after 8:30 pm, the smell of smoke was reported in the 2100 block of east Gila Ridge Road. Yuma Fire Department personnel arrived in the area and began to search for the source. A short time later smoke was found to be coming from a garage in the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) yard at 2165 east Gila Ridge Road. Firefighters gained access to the locked garage and found an ADOT utility truck on fire inside. The fire had mostly been knocked down by the fire suppression sprinkler system inside the garage. Firefighters extinguished the remaining fire and confirmed it had not spread further. Damage was limited to the vehicle and to sections of the garage directly above the truck. Several other vehicles, as well as additional tools and equipment, were undamaged. Fire investigators believe the fire originated in some equipment on the utility truck. The fire is not considered to have been intentionally set. Fire sprinkler systems can keep fires from spreading and can also extinguish them. Fire spreads quickly and can double in size every minute. Even small fires can cause significant damage to personal property and endanger those nearby. Contrary to many Hollywood portrayals, only sprinkler heads directly exposed to the heat (155 degrees for a residential sprinkler) activate, not those in the rest of the room, building, or complex.
Government/Military, Other-Government/Military Santa Ana, CA – Fire at John Wayne Airport contained by sprinkler system April 3, 2015 viking210 A small fire caused some damage inside John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana early today. The fire was reported around 1:30 a.m. near Gate 7 of Terminal A at the airport, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi. The fire was contained by an overhead sprinkler and extinguished by about 20 firefighters, Concialdi said. No injuries were reported and no flights were affected, he said.
Government/Military, Other-Government/Military Atlanta, GA – Fire at CDC laboratory controlled with help from sprinkler system March 26, 2015 viking210 1 Comment The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention closed one of its laboratory buildings Wednesday after an overnight fire. CDC officials say the fire broke out around midnight in the Rubella lab in Building 18. They say the laboratory’s water sprinkler system functioned properly, and local fire and CDC officials responded accordingly. No one was injured and there was no release or loss of containment of any germs. Officials are investigating the cause of the fire but say early indications point to a piece of laboratory equipment that malfunctioned. The building houses about 470 employees. In addition to rubella, scientists in the building also work on measles, mumps, HIV, meningitis, hepatitis, norovirus and other pathogens.
Other-Government/Military Agawam, MA – Sprinklers help put out fire at Department of Public Works garage March 16, 2015 viking210 A fire broke out Saturday morning at the Department of Public Works building on Suffield Street. Agawam Fire Chief Alan Sirois told WGGB that one of the trucks caught fire, but firefighters extinguished the blaze within 15 minutes. Sirois said damage to the building at 1000 Suffield Street was minimal. Sirois told the news station that the building’s sprinkler system averted what could have amounted to millions of dollars in damage. The truck was a total loss, he added. The cause of the fire is still under investigation but the building will be open on Monday morning.
