Category Archives: Government/Military

Government Office, Government/Military

Wilkes-Barre, PA – Arson fire at Children and Youth Services Center extinguished by sprinkler system

The Luzerne County human services building on Pennsylvania Avenue was closed Monday after someone threw a “fire bomb” into an office, according to an email to county council members. In the email, council Chairwoman Linda McClosky Houck told fellow members she was informed Children and Youth Executive Director Joanne Van Saun’s office was the one targeted.  A fire at the building at approximately 5:37 a.m. Monday was quickly extinguished by the sprinkler system, District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said.

She added the incident is under investigation, and there are several potential leads for persons of interest. She declined to offer further details. “Based on the circumstances, this is an active criminal investigation,” Salavantis said.  County Manager C. David Pedri said the building would be reopened today with crisis counselors on site to provide counseling for those who needed it.

Salavantis said it was not known how long the investigation would take, and she declined to provide specifics on how the fire started. The building contains the offices for the county’s Human Services Division, including Children and Youth, drug and alcohol programs, and Mental Health and Developmental Services. The Area Agency on Aging for Luzerne and Wyoming counties is also located there.  Pedri said there was never a lapse in coverage during the day.  “All emergency calls for the Children and Youth division were diverted to on-call workers,” he said in a news release.  State Police and Wilkes-Barre police and firefighters were at the scene along with numerous agents from the Luzerne County Sheriff’s Office.

Fire / Police Station, Government/Military

Roanoke, VA – Fire in police station extinguished with help from sprinkler system; No injuries

The Roanoke Police Department’s Station had to be evacuated on Thursday evening because of a fire.  The fire broke out in a room on the third floor of the building, according to Tiffany Bradbury with Roanoke Fire EMS.  She said everyone was evacuated from the building and that no one was injured.  The sprinkler system was activated and the fire is now out; however, firefighters are currently checking the building to make sure everything is clear.  Campbell Avenue is still closed to traffic.  The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Hamilton, ON, Canada – Fire at city recycling center extinguished by sprinkler system

… Units reported to a fire inside a city recycling facility at 1579 Burlington Street, where garbage had caught fire.  Mostacci said the building’s sprinkler system had extinguished most of the fire, but firefighters pulled garbage out of the building and wet it down. There was no financial loss as a result of the fire, he said.

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Richmond, KY – Sprinkler system stop fire at arts council building, saving artwork from damage

The Richmond Area Arts Council building on West Water Street sustained slight smoke, fire and water damage Tuesday afternoon after a small fire broke out in the building’s basement.

Late Tuesday afternoon as she carefully sloshed through water pooled in the art council’s basement, RAAC Executive Director Deborah Kidd recounted the moment staff knew something had gone wrong.

“We were upstairs and started smelling smoke,” Kidd said. “We came down immediately and the sprinklers came on.”

Kidd said employees evacuated the building and firefighters began showing up a short time later.

“The firefighters have been fantastic and very thorough,” Kidd said. “While the sprinklers managed to put out the fire, they have made sure the smoke was aired out and no additional fires have cropped up.”

Mark Murphy, assistant fire chief for the Richmond Fire Department, praised the RAAC’s sprinkler system Tuesday afternoon.”

The sprinkler system did its job,” he explained. “When we got here, the fire was already contained and out. The sprinkler system stopped the fire from spreading.”

Murphy said, according to preliminary investigations, the fire began around 2:30 p.m. in the RAAC’s mechanical room in the building’s basement. The origin was determined to be a heating and cooling unit housed in the room.

The fire consumed the majority of the building’s heating unit, but the structure of the building sustained zero damage.

An adjacent office sustained only slight smoke and water damage, Kidd said.

Luckily, art currently on display at the RAAC from local artist Pat Banks was spared from the water, fire and smoke.”

The art is just fine. None of Pat’s work was affected,” Kidd confirmed Tuesday. “We were lucky none of the artwork in the building was damaged.”

Other-Government/Military

Waukesha, WI – Fire at municipal garage controlled with assistance from sprinkler system

Waukesha police and fire responded to the Municipal Garage on Sentry St. after a sprinkler water flow alarm was set off just before 8 p.m. Friday. According to the police report, a small fire was located inside a dump truck approximately 200 feet in the property. The report stated that the fire was knocked down with a water can several minutes after the alarm was reported.

Other-Government/Military, Power / Energy Facility

Hibbing, MN – Sprinkler system assists crews in extinguishing conveyor fire at power plant

A fire at the Hibbing Public Utilities Power Plant caused $70,000 in damage on Sunday.  According to Hibbing Fire Marshal Bryan Fagerstrom, the blaze broke out at the top of a 5-story conveyer belt on the bio-mass side of the power plant just after 2:30 p.m. “The conveyor carried wood chips to a loading area to be burned for steam generation,” the press release said. It was equipped with a sprinkler system which assisted in controlling the fire. Crews from Hibbing, Chisholm and Keewatin remained on the scene for several hours to ensure all the hot spots were extinguished. No one was injured. The fire appeared to have been caused by a bearing failure on the conveyor belt.

Other-Government/Military

West Mifflin, PA – Fire at atomic research lab extinguished by automatic sprinkler system

A small fire at an atomic power laboratory near Pittsburgh has been extinguished without incident or injury by the building’s sprinkler system.  Officials at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory say there was no threat to the public from Sunday night’s fire in West Mifflin.  The government-owned facility is operated for the Department of Energy and the U.S. Navy by Bechtel Bettis, Inc.  The technology developed there is used to power U.S. nuclear-powered warships.  The cause of the fire was still being investigated Monday. It occurred in an area that contains low-level radioactive material, none of which was released as a result of the fire.

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Kent, WA – Early morning fire at transit station parking garage contained with help from sprinkler system

A vehicle fire briefly shut down the Kent Station parking garage early Wednesday morning and delayed a few Sounder trains. The fire about 6:10 a.m. on the fourth floor of the garage, 301 Railroad Ave. N., set off an automatic fire alarm, said Kyle Ohashi, spokesman for the Kent Regional Fire Authority.  Firefighters saw heavy grey smoke coming from the fourth floor and initially upgraded it to a commercial fire due to the unknown source of the fire, Ohashi said. Once on the fourth floor, they found a car fire that the building sprinkler system helped contain. The cause of the fire is unknown.  Kent Police also responded to the call as officials closed the garage until the fire was out.  Sound Transit delayed several trains from entering Kent Station because of the garage closure and fire. Once emergency personnel opened the garage, trains ran again.

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Chicago, IL – Fire at Ogilvie Transportation Center quickly doused by sprinkler system

A small fire at the Ogilvie Transportation Center was quickly doused by a sprinkler, according to a Chicago Fire Department spokesman.

The fire at the building at 500 W. Madison St. a little before 9 p.m. was put out by sprinklers, and while there was some smoke in the building, fire officials quickly declared the fire under control, the spokesman said. No one was injured, he said.

Fire crews opened doors and used fans to air out the building.

Metra train operations weren’t being disrupted because riders were able to enter and leave the train platform from exits other than the main one on Madison, said Tom Miller, a Metra spokesman. Some CTA buses were rerouted in the area because of the large Fire Department response for the high-rise.

A few dozen people huddled near the Madison entrance until fire officials cleared the building.

Corey Tate, 28, a Forest Park resident, said he was working with at least five other people on the 32nd floor when the fire alarm went off.

“We decided it’s probably not safe to stay up on the 32nd floor so we took the stairwell all the way down,” Tate said. “It made my heart beat so fast. I didn’t know what the heck was going on.”

A traffic reporter who works at the building, also known as the Citigroup Center, said in a tweet that his office was being evacuated because of the fire, after it was declared out.

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Wheaton, IL – Sprinkler system contains fire at public works garage; No injuries reported

No injuries were reported in a small fire Monday night at the Wheaton public works facility that apparently started in the bed of a pickup truck inside the fleet maintenance garage. Firefighters responded at 7 p.m. to the facility at 821 W. Liberty St. and found the fire had been brought under control within minutes by the building’s sprinkler system.

Firefighters spent about 30 minutes at the scene clearing smoke and extinguishing some minor smoldering material. The cause of the fire is undetermined but does not appear to be suspicious. Damage estimates were not immediately available.  The building was turned back over to public works officials after the fire and the building was open for business on Tuesday.