Category Archives: Hospital/Care Facility

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Wildomar, CA – Fire in storage closet at hospital suppressed by sprinkler system

On Dec. 14, firefighters responded to Inland Valley Medical Center regarding the report of a commercial structure fire at the location.

The hospital is located at 36485 Inland Valley Drive, near Clinton Keith Road in Wildomar. Inland Valley Medical Center is a 122-bed, General Acute Care Hospital with Basic Emergency Services and a Level III Trauma Center. The hospital serves most of Temecula Valley and surrounding areas.

In a press release from CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department, press information officer April Newman explained at about 5:27 p.m., 10 firefighters from two engine companies and one truck company responded to the reported fire.

The first arriving engine company found a single-story commercial building with no signs of fire or smoke showing. Upon further investigation, firefighters determined a small fire had occurred in a storage room at the hospital.

According to Newman, the fire was contained to the storage room by the hospital’s fire suppression sprinkler system. No damage was reported to have occurred as a result of the fire, however the fire sprinklers caused minor water damage to items within the storage room.

Fire department resources reportedly remained on scene for approximately one hour to assist with water salvage and cleanup.

There were no reported injuries associated with this incident.

 

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Other - Residential

South Williamsport, PA – Sprinkler system quickly suppresses fire at care home; No injuries reported

Insinger’s Personal Care Home, 6 E. Central Ave. in South Williamsport, was safely evacuated when a small fire broke out in a second-floor bedroom about 7:50 p.m. Wednesday. The home’s sprinkler system quickly extinguished the fire, which involved some linen, fire officials said. The cause of the fire was under investigation. The home’s estimated 30 residents were placed with relatives, friends or were spending the night at the First Ward Fire house because the electrical system has to be inspected before the home resumes operation, officials said.

Other - Hospital/Medical

Henrico, VA – Overnight arson fire “mostly extinguished” by sprinkler system

A woman has been charged with arson after crews extinguished a fire at a Henrico doctor’s office Tuesday morning.

Crews responded to 10200 Three Chopt Road for a fire alarm at 3:03 a.m. Tuesday. First arriving units reported smoke coming from the front of the structure upon arrival. Inside the office, fire crews found fire that had been mostly extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system. The sprinklers kept the fire minimized and the fire was marked under control at 3:26 a.m.

While checking the property, officers on scene located a window where entry was made into the building. Police stopped an SUV leaving the scene of the incident and identified the operator as 46-year-old Deana Annette Clements of Crozier, Virginia. Officers say they found evidence inside the vehicle that implicated Clements in the burglary and arson.

After a joint investigation between the Henrico County Police Division and the Henrico County Division of Fire, Clements was charged with trespassing, burglary, possession of burglary tools, vandalism and arson.

There was minor smoke, water, and fire damage done to the building. The business was not occupied at the time of the fire and there were no injuries.

 

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Halifax, NS, Canada – No one injured after sprinklers activate in fire on seventh floor of mental hospital

The Nova Scotia Health Authority says it could take weeks to rebuild two floors damaged after a small fire at the Abbie J. Lane building of the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

The fire started at around 7:20 p.m. on Wednesday in a patient’s room, said Everton McLean, a spokesperson for the health authority. 

The fire was contained and no one was injured, but it triggered the sprinkler system and the water damaged all units on the sixth and seventh floors. Patients needing mental health care are treated on those floors. 

McLean says it will take a while to repair the rooms. 

“In those situations where we get water into the drywall, it causes issues because you have to replace drywall,” he said Thursday.

“It depends on the level of damage when maintenance crews find when we get in there, but right now we’re thinking it’s going to be several weeks.”

Most of the patients were given temporary accommodations at the Abbie J. Lane building on Wednesday night. Others were relocated to other sites at the Nova Scotia Hospital on Thursday morning.

Their families were notified, the health authority said, adding that new patients may be admitted outside the immediate area because of reduced bed availability at the Abbie J. Lane building.

The health authority says it is working to maintain services for new and existing patients.

Meanwhile, McLean says an investigation is underway to determine how the fire started. 

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Wichita, KS – Sprinklers keep fire from spreading at hospital

(** Blog Note – Sprinklers do not activate by smoke; Only the substantial heat from a significant fire **)  Fire crews responded to Via Christi St. Francis hospital Sunday evening after smoke from a trash dumpster fire caused sprinklers to go off at the facility.  Dispatch reported smoke on the south side of the hospital where the trash dumpster is located. The fire did not spread to the building. 

Wichita Police provided traffic control near the scene. Roads were not closed, but part of Santa Fe was partially blocked near the hospital. 

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Grand Terrace, CA – Attic fire at convalescent hospital contained by sprinkler system

An attic fire prompted a precautionary evacuation at a Grand Terrace convalescent hospital, say San Bernardino County Fire Department officials.

The blaze was reported at 7:36 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, at Grand Terrace Health Care Center, 12000 Mount Vernon Ave., about a block north of Barton Road.

The first firefighters to arrive were the crew of Medic Engine 213 who reported smoke billowing from the roof, said Battalion Chief Dan Filter.

“We evacuated a wing because there was fire in the attic,” he said.

The building’s sprinkler system prevented the flames from spreading.

Firefighters climbed ladders to the top of the one-story building and cut a hole in the roof so they could extinguish the flames.

No one was hurt. The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately determined.

Hospital/Care Facility, Residential

New Brighton, PA – Sprinkler system douses fire at residential facility for the physically and developmentally challenged

1 Comment

About 50 residents were evacuated from their rooms Monday night after an electrical fire in a residence wing of McGuire Memorial Home. The fire broke out around 11 p.m. in a laundry room at the home, 2119 Mercer Road, Daugherty Township, according to Daugherty Township Fire Chief Brad Stone. An electrical short in a window fan sparked the fire, which Stone said was extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system before firefighters arrived.

Because of smoke in the area, residents of one apartment wing were evacuated to another part of the building but returned to their homes about an hour later. No one was injured. Firefighters from Daugherty, Pulaski and North Sewickley townships and New Brighton responded to the fire call.

McGuire Memorial is a ministry of the Felician Sisters of North America and the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese. It provides services for people with mental and physical disabilities and for their families and caregivers.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Howell, MI – Laundry fire at rehabilitation center controlled with help from sprinkler system

A sprinkler system and a fast-acting Livingston County Sheriff’s Department deputy contributed to containing a fire at a Howell Township rehabilitation center late Tuesday evening.

Chief Andy Pless of the Howell Area Fire Department said the fire in the laundry room of the White Pine Rehabilitation and Care Center of Howell at 3003 W. Grand River Ave. was reported just before 11 p.m. Tuesday.

“An on-duty sheriff’s deputy made entry into the basement and put it out with a fire extinguisher as we were arriving,” the fire chief noted. “We cleaned up the mess.”

Pless said the center’s sprinkler system also did its job, helping to contain the fire.  When the alarm first sounded, White Pine staff immediately began evacuating the center’s residents. Pless said they had nearly cleared the facility when the all-clear was given for the fire call.

“White Pine did a fantastic job in getting residents in and out of harms way,” Pless said. “We were in and out in less than an hour.”

White Pine administrator Jackie Jones said she could not comment and referred inquiries to the regional director, who did not return a message seeking comment.

According to its website, the more than 2,000-square-foot center “specializes in medically complex and short-term rehabilitation” and offers long-term care for those recovering from surgery or illness or need rehabilitation.

Hospital/Care Facility, Other - Hospital/Medical

Valdosta, GA – Laundry fire at health care facility suppressed by sprinkler system

Laundry which overheated in a commercial dryer caused a fire at Pruitt Health at Crestwood at 415 Pendleton Place on Sunday about 6:30. VFD Captain James Clinkscales said that fire personnel responded to a structure fire with sprinkler activation, and the small laundry room fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system. Fire crews assisted with the evacuation and water removal.

Fourteen firefighters responded to the scene and were able to control the incident quickly, and no one in the facility was displaced by this incident, and no injuries were reported. 

Hospital/Care Facility, Other - Hospital/Medical

Rochester, MN – Sprinkler system douses fire at Mayo support facility; No injuries reported

Rochester Fire Department responded to the Mayo Support Center Thursday morning after a piece of machinery that cleans the floor caught fire. “We showed up and they had a smoke haze in the building. The building was investigated and found that in the maintenance area, a piece of maintenance equipment had malfunctioned during charging and caused a small fire, which initiated the sprinkler system, which almost completely extinguished the fire” said Chuck Solseth, the Rochester Fire Department Acting Battalion Chief.

 Initially, one fire engine and the battalion chief car responded to the fire alarm; however, two more engines were called in after the discovery of smoke being produced.  Crews went in with a carbon dioxide extinguisher and put out what the sprinklers couldn’t.

Solseth said this type of fire does not happen very often. “It’s not very common for things to just catch fire while they’re in there charging. It does happen on occasion. But that’s why it’s important that we monitor what’s going on. Pieces of the equipment that you’re charging, if they’re abnormally warm or making any type of odd odors or sounds, may be reason to unplug it and investigate it further,” said Solseth.

Solseth added that when plastic pieces catch fire, like that of the floor cleaning machinery, it can prove to be detrimental. “The plastics create/release chemicals. The smoke itself will have carbon monoxide in it because of the products of combustion. We ventilated the structure out, used our respiratory equipment, so that we could access the area, ventilated it out, and then verified it with air monitors that there was no more hazard for us,” said Solseth.

Employees of the Mayo Support Center were evacuated until around 12:30 p.m. Thursday.