Category Archives: Hospital/Care Facility

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Ooltewah, TN – Fire sprinkler system keeps fire contained to janitorial closet at nursing home; No injuries reported

The Life Care Center in Ooltewah escaped major fire damages when a fire suppression system at the facility activated around 5:40 Saturday evening.

The Highway 58 Volunteer Fire Department responded to a 911 call reporting a kitchen fire at the nursing home near 5911 Snow Hill Road.

The Highway 58 VFD reported a small fire in a laundry bin. The fire sprinkler system kept the fire contained to the janitorial closet.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the Chattanooga Fire Department, no injuries were reported but HCEMS was on the scene.

The Chattanooga Fire Department says all residents were temporarily moved to another wing of the facility.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Sioux Falls, SD – Equipment fire at hospital extinguished by fire sprinkler; No injuries reported

Authorities say a small equipment fire at a Sanford Hospital building in Sioux Falls forced staff to temporarily move some patients to a different part of the building.

The fire broke out around 11 p.m. near the radiology department on the ground floor of the medical center.

According to Sioux Falls Fire Rescue, an equipment maintenance cart started on fire, but it was extinguished by a sprinkler before firefighters arrived.

A Sanford spokesperson said patients were briefly moved from the emergency department and The Birth Place while firefighters evaluated the situation. Once the smoke in the air had been cleared, patients were returned to their rooms.

No one was hurt during the incident.

Sanford said its fire response worked “as designed.” The spokesperson said patients will not experience any disruptions due to the incident.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Levittown, PA – Fire contained to commercial dryer at substance abuse treatment center thanks to fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

A Saturday night fire damaged a residential substance abuse treatment facility.

Firefighters from the Langhorne-Middletown Fire Company and Newtown Fire Association were called to Pyramid Healthcare, formerly Today Inc., in the 1900 block of North Woodbourne Road by Core Creek Park in Middletown for a report of a basement blaze around 10:15 p.m.

Crews arrived and found the basement fire contained to a single room. They beat back the bulk of the flames within 10 minutes, and the fire was placed fully under control a few minutes later, Langhorne-Middletown Fire Company Chief Frank Farry said.

Smoke spread throughout the building that has dorms, but the fire was contained to the single room in the basement. The room contained a large commercial dryer and had a working sprinkler, Farry said.

No injuries were reported.

The Bucks County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the blaze due to the fact the facility leases their location from the county.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Detroit, MI – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire in hospital operating room

Detroit Receiving Hospital, part of Detroit Medical Center, will receive funding from the state of Michigan to repair damage caused by a fire and its sprinkler system, according to the Detroit News.

All eight operating rooms of the hospital suffered water damage after the sprinkler system was set off to extinguish the fire. 

The fire itself ignited in a single unoccupied operating room last weekend, according to the report.

“Fortunately, no patients were in surgery in any OR,” Brian Taylor, a spokesman for the Detroit Medical Center, told the News. “Our staff responded quickly, and the fire was extinguished in minutes. Three patients in pre and postop areas were safely evacuated. We are working collaboratively with [state officials] to address the area impacted.”

The hospital filed an emergency certificate of need request for $100,000 with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Slinger, WI – Fire sprinkler system puts out fire caused by malfunctioning heating unit at rehabilitation center; No injuries reported

There was a bit of smoke and a minor fire at The Pavilion at Glacier Valley, 1900 American Eagle Drive, on Monday afternoon.

Slinger Police Captain Joshua Gullickson said the initial call came in at 4:20 p.m.

The call was for a sprinkler system activation. “When officers arrived smoke was visible but no flames,” said Gullickson. “Slinger Fire Department was dispatched to the scene and the cause of the sprinkler activation was an overheat malfunction of a heating unit in one wing of the facility.”

Gullickson said residents were moved to a different part of the building.

No injuries were reported to residents, staff or emergency responders.

The Pavilion is described as “short-term rehabilitation, respite and long-term care.”

Child Care Facility, Hospital/Care Facility

Victoria, BC, Canada – Fire sprinklers keep fire contained to kitchen at daycare center; No injuries reported

A fire that sparked in a daycare along West Saanich Road Thursday evening resulted in no injuries, but did delay traffic, according to authorities.

At approximately 4:30 p.m., the Saanich Fire Department was called to the 4300-block of West Saanich Road for reports of a structure fire.

In a tweet, the Saanich Fire Department said that the fire started in the daycare area of the building, but was limited to the kitchen section by automatic sprinklers.

Police say that traffic in the area was severely affected by the fire, especially along West Saanich Road, Royal Oak Drive, the Quadra Street off ramp onto the Patrica Bay Highway and Glanford Avenue.

Hospital/Care Facility, Other - Hospital/Medical

Emeryville, CA – Sprinkler system contains fire at commercial laboratory; No injuries reported

Employees of a lab were mixing chemicals Monday afternoon in Emeryville when things got too hot, Alameda County Fire Department officials said.

Firefighters responded at 2:55 p.m. to a commercial laboratory located on the 5800 block of Hollis Street in Emeryville where a fire was contained to a fume hood, fire spokesperson Brian Centoni said.

A hazardous materials team was also called. Centoni said no one was injured and no one had to shelter in place.

A building was evacuated and sprinklers went off.

The hazmat team was evaluating some runoff as of late Monday afternoon.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

La Grange Park, IL – Malfunctioning furnace fire controlled by fire sprinklers at rehabilitation center; No injuries reported

No one was injured and no one had to be evacuated when a furnace malfunction started a fire Thursday morning at The Grove of La Grange Park rehabilitation center, fire officials reported.

An automatic fire alarm at the facility, 701 N. La Grange Road, sounded at 9:05 a.m. Nov. 21, Fire Chief Dean Maggos said.

A furnace in a sub-basement mechanical room malfunctioned, causing flames from the furnace burners to reach insulation below some ducts, Maggos said. A fire sprinkler located only a few feet away activated, controlled the fire and sounded an alarm. Water from the sprinkler limited the fire and heat damage to the immediate area.

Water damage was minimal, as the staff and firefighters kept the water in the mechanical room where it drained through floor drains, the Fire Department reported.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

West Plains, MO – Fire at healthcare facility put out by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

No injuries were reported Wednesday after a small fire at NHC Healthcare in West Plains.

A report from the West Plains Fire Department says firefighters arrived just before 3 pm and found smoke in one of the rooms. An employee told responders that she was by the heater when she heard a popping sound and smelled a burning plastic scent. After unplugging the unit, the employee remained in the room for over a minute and didn’t notice any smoke or fire from the unit.

The building sprinkler system put out the fire.

The employee then made her way down the hall when a resident call light came on and the resident was yelling fire, according to the report.

No injuries were reported.

Hospital/Care Facility, Other - Hospital/Medical

Madison, WI – Fire sprinkler activation contains fire to dehumidifier; No injuries reported

A recalled appliance at a Madison assisted care home malfunctioned Monday afternoon, causing a fire, officials said. 

The Madison Fire Department said crews were notified of a problem at 7710 S. Brookline Drive at 3:07 p.m. after an automatic fire sprinkler activated, sending an alarm to Dane County 911 Public Safety Communications Center.

The sprinkler kept the fire contained, which allowed on-site staff to deploy a fire extinguisher and put it out, the fire department said. Firefighters were directed to the location of the fire and found a heavily damaged dehumidifier.

The dehumidifier in use was an older model that had several recalls, fire officials said. A drainage tube attached to the collection tank allowed the dehumidifier to run without interruption.

The fire department said that although the fire produced a lot of smoke, damage was confined to the dehumidifier, and there were no injuries or displaced occupants because the automatic sprinkler caught the fire right away. 

The fire department said crews have responded to a number of fires involving dehumidifiers that were recalled, were older models or were simply left to run constantly for indefinite periods of time.

“It is unsafe to allow your dehumidifier to run uninterrupted,” fire officials said. “Homeowners and occupants should use the proper collection tank which, when full, will prompt the dehumidifier to stop running until the tank can be emptied.”