Government Office, Government/Military Media, PA – Sprinklers activate to help control car fire in courthouse’s underground parking garage July 22, 2016 viking210 The county courthouse and government center was closed Tuesday morning after a car fire in a below-ground parking garage flooded the building with smoke. “They tried to fight it with fire extinguishers, but it just got ahead of them,” said Delaware County Council Chairman Mario Civera. “The sprinklers went off and the fire department was called in.” Civera said the fire broke out about 8:20 a.m. and was brought under control within 20 minutes. The car was in a corner of the B-level of the parking garage directly underneath the government center. The building does not open to the public until 8:30 a.m., but Civera said some employees and cafeteria staff were already inside. Park Police attempted to use fire extinguishers and hoses before the sprinklers kicked in, he said. “Everybody was evacuated, everybody came out safe,” Civera said. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Civera said there were about 75 or 100 cars already in the garage at the time the fire broke out and that employees would be able to retrieve their vehicles Tuesday morning. Employees and citizens crowded the surrounding sidewalks Tuesday morning as they waited for word on the building. Civera made the call to close the buildings for the day at about 10 a.m., but said the building would re-open Wednesday. “We want to make sure all the numbers are right, the carbon monoxide level is where it’s supposed to be, the sprinkler systems is intact, so it can accept the public and the employees (Wednesday),” he said. “We just want to make it’s a safe place for tomorrow for the residents and for the employees.” Upper Darby Mayor Tom Miccozie, who also serves as the county’s director of risk management, said the county does a lot of planning and drills twice a year for just such an emergency. He praised the park police for employing extinguishers as they were trained to do and employees who “acted 100-percent the way they should.” Micozzie said there was no need to open windows in the complex, which has carbon monoxide detectors installed. “The fire company is checking now for carbon monoxide levels throughout the whole complex,” he said. “Cleanup companies are already on scene, they’ll do their work with some aromatic sprays, make sure that all our buildings are safe and then we’ll reopen tomorrow morning. Responding crews included Media, Rose Tree, Springfield, Aston and emergency medical services. Eddystone also lent a hovercraft to the effort, which was backed up to the garage exit with its fan active in an attempt to clear out smoke. Civera praised the first responders for their quick and professional response to the alarm. “They were here right on the money,” he said. “Thank God nobody got hurt.” This is a breaking story, return for more updates later in the day.
Government Office, Government/Military Wilmington, MA – Fire at public safety building doused by sprinkler system April 29, 2016 viking210 Firefighters have long touted the value of sprinklers for saving lives and preventing property damage, and on Wednesday afternoon Wilmington firefighters got an up close look at just how effective the devices really are. Fire Chief Rick McClellan said a commercial dryer in the firefighters’ gear and laundry room caught on fire about 5:30 p.m., as firefighters were elsewhere in the public-safety building. He said firefighters were in the kitchen on the second-floor of the public-safety building when they noticed smoke coming from the area where the gear and laundry room and fire apparatus are. As they went to investigate, they noticed heavy smoke pouring from a 12-inch vent in the roof of the apparatus bay, and arrived downstairs to discover a dryer fire that was contained by a single sprinkler head in the gear/laundry room. “The sprinkler contained it to the area and the contents inside the dryer,” McClellan said. “Here we are with nine guys upstairs and there’s a fire going on and the sprinkler put it out.” The dryer was a total loss, as were the uniforms that were drying in it, but McClellan said the sprinkler head prevented the blaze from causing any structural damage. Drains in the floor of the laundry/gear room minimized water damage, he said. All the firefighters had to do was turn the sprinkler off, vent some of the smoke from the fire and clean the floors. “The sprinkler mitigated the whole problem,” McClellan said. “They didn’t even have to bring in a hose line.”
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, Prison / Jail Mt Vernon, KY – Overnight fire at county jail suppressed by sprinkler system December 24, 2015 viking210 A fire early Wednesday at the Rockcastle County jail caused 13 inmates and two jail employees to be sent to hospitals with smoke inhalation. Police and fire officials were called about 3:20 a.m. to the jail, which housed 102 inmates at the time, Kentucky State Trooper Lloyd Cochran said. Four jail employees were in the building at the time State police suspect arson, Cochran said. The investigation is open, and no arrests have been made. None of the injuries were thought to be life-threatening, and many of those hospitalized have been released, Cochran said. The injured were taken to hospitals in Rockcastle and Laurel counties. The fire caused heavy smoke and water damage, Cochran said. It could be closed for several weeks. All of the inmates were transported to the Laurel County Correctional Center, Cochran said. It was unclear whether the prisoners would be able to stay there until repairs are made to the Rockcastle County jail. Jail employees told police that alarm and sprinkler systems worked as they are supposed to, Cochran said. State police will be able to confirm that alarms and sprinklers worked properly after the investigation is completed.
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
Government/Military, Prison / Jail Florence, AZ – No injuries after sprinklers douse fire inside prison laundry room July 28, 2015 viking210 A fire broke out at a private prison in Florence Saturday afternoon, according to a town official. According to an official with the town of Florence, a fire broke out a Corrections Corporation of America facility in Florence. CCA said the fire started in a dryer in a laundry room. The fire went up a vent where it caught plastic, that was on the roof, on fire. CCA said the cause of the heavy black smoke was the plastic burning. The fire inside the building was extinguished by the internal sprinkler system, according to CCA, while firefighters extinguished the outside. The fire was not in a living area of the prison, but according to the town of Florence official the fire did cause “serious damage” to the facility. There were no injuries.
Government/Military, Prison / Jail Brenham, TX – Sprinklers activate to help contain fire that started in jail laundry; No injuries July 22, 2015 viking210 An overnight fire in the laundry room at the Washington County Jail set off the alarms and the sprinkler system, according to Chief Deputy Jay Petrash . The jail staff discovered the fire around early Tuesday morning. Brenham Fire Department personnel arrived within minutes extinguishing the flames. Fire personnel used high pressured fans to remove heavy smoke from the area, while jail work crews cleaned the charred clothing from the machines and removed water from the room and hallway. Chief Petrash said that none of the 100 housed inmates or jail personnel had to be evacuated, and no one was injured. The fire is believed to have started due to a build- up of lent in one of the dryer’s filter, however, the cause is still being investigated by the Brenham Fire Marshall’s Office. Sheriff’s Office personnel are still assessing the damage and will be awaiting review by insurance as it relates to replacement of equipment and costs.
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.
