Napa Fire said the smoke was discovered to be coming from a locked guest room. Firefighters found a small fire in a bathroom that had been partially put out by the automatic sprinkler system, Fire Capt. Steve Becker said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Guests were able to return inside after 90 minutes, Becker said.
Bend Fire & Rescue crews were dispatched around 4 a.m. to the report of a possible structure fire at Broken Top Bottle Shop & Ale Café on NW Pence Avenue, Battalion Chief Trish Connolly reported.
Crews arriving on scene saw smoke in the building, forced entry into the business and found a small sprinkler-controlled fire in the dining area, Connolly said.
The sprinkler system also set off all alarms in the building, alerting occupants in the apartments above the business, who evacuated with the help of police as fire crews arrived on scene. They were able to return to their apartments within an hour, Connolly said.
Fire crews made sure the fire was out and ventilated the businesses to reduce smoke damage, Connolly said.
The sprinkler system put out the fire, which began in the dining room from kitchen rags placed on a table, in laundry bags. Connolly said the fire was caused by spontaneous combustion from laundered rags which still had kitchen oils on them and were not separated after being dried.
Because the linen rags were in laundry bags and were not separated, the heat from the rags rose high enough to ignite the bags of linen.
Connolly said it’s more likely to occur in restaurants, spas and businesses where linens are used to clean up combustible substances, such as oils.
“Laundering does not get out all the residual oil, especially when the rags are used over and over with oil substances, so the residual oil builds up over time,” Connolly said.
Suggested laundry safety guidelines say separating rags after being laundered is important to avoid such fires.
Damage was estimated at $5,000 to the restaurant and $2,500 to the contents.
Fire damage to the building was minimal due to the quick dousing of the fire by the sprinkler system. On average, Connolly said, fires are controlled by activation of one or two sprinkler heads, which not only put out the fire but keep water damage to a minimum.
The first fire happened late last week in the early morning hours of June 5th, at Flavors of Italy Bistro, located at 513 Atlantic Avenue. Ocean City firefighters forced entry into the building, discovering that the fire sprinkler had activated in the kitchen area and extinguished the fire. Damage was contained to the appliance and adjacent kitchen hood.
The second fire happened just before 3 p.m. on June 8th, at the Trimper’s Apartments in the 700 block of the Ocean City Boardwalk. Firefighters arrived on scene and found smoke on the second floor of the apartment, but on entry they discovered that an activated fire sprinkler had extinguished the fire. Damage was contained to a small area above the stove.
As a result of the quick response of the fire sprinklers and the fire department, the restaurant and apartment building did not sustain serious damage. Both fires have been ruled accidental.
The site also had a fire May 24 that didn’t spread beyond a single room.
The building at 3020 Blanshard St. offers accommodation to people who were previously living in tents in Topaz Park or along a stretch of Pandora Avenue, a transition made possible after the provincial government bought the facility last month for $18.5 million.
Residents are supported by Our Place Society and the Victoria Cool Aid Society.
Atkinson said the first 911 call was received about 8:20 a.m. and crews were able to put the fire out quickly. One occupant had been in the unit but got out safely.
“It was a room-and-contents fire and it did activate the sprinkler system,” he said. “The sprinkler system did a really good job of not allowing it to spread too radically.”
Remediation in the other rooms could range from pulling up the carpet and bringing in fans to working on drywall and paint.
He said there is bound to be a fair bit of damage, “being that it was on the fourth floor and water runs downhill.”
Investigators were asked to assist Cypress Creek Fire Department with a fire at Pho X Trang on Monday in the 21500 block of SH 249.
There were a couple of lessons learned from this incident.
The fire was ruled an accident and there were no injuries reported.
Crews quickly snuffed out a car fire Friday afternoon at a Belgrade hotel.
Witnesses said a car under the portico caught fire at the La Quinta Inn and Suites off Jackrabbit Lane shortly after 3 p.m.
The building’s sprinkler system kicked in protecting the hotel but the fire spread to the hotel van parked under the portico and into the roof.
Officials say there was a hotel evacuation, but no injuries were reported. Bozeman Fire responded with big extension ladder truck along with Central Valley and Hyalite Fire.
The fire remains under investigation at this time.
According to officials, reports of smoke in the resort’s spa area prompted the call to emergency crews who found a waste paper basket fire upon arrival.
The building’s fire protection sprinkler/early detection system helped contain the fire before it could be extinguished by WKFR firefighters.
An investigation determined the small fire was started by spontaneous combustion due to the improper disposal of oil soaked rags and concluded.
It’s not being considered as suspicious.
The Franklin Fire Department was dispatched to Bricktops restaurant, located at 1576 W. McEwen Dr., just before 9 a.m. Firefighters arrived to find smoke showing and fire on the roof.
King said the restaurant had been closed due to the coronavirus but had reopened Saturday morning to prepare takeout and delivery orders for the Easter weekend. He said a fryer malfunctioned when it was re-started and ignited the fire.
According to King, employees attempted unsuccessfully to extinguish the fire, which spread through the hood system to the roof.
King credited the activation of the automatic fire sprinkler system with greatly reducing damage and slowing the spread of fire inside the building. He also credited the quick response of Franklin firefighters, as well as units from Brentwood Fire & Rescue, which were dispatched via the cities’ mutual aid agreement.
King estimated damage at $50,000. No one was injured.
The Normal Fire Department was called to the hotel just after 7:30 a.m. for a report of a fire in the Caffeina’s Marketplace Cafe.
Hotel operations were unaffected by the blaze.
Heavy damage was reported to the cafe itself and water damage throughout the lobby. A dollar estimate of damage was not available by Thursday afternoon.
No injuries were reported in the incident, according to the NFD.
An employee attempted to use a fire extinguisher but the hotel’s sprinkler system was activated to slow the spread of the fire, according to a release by the NFD.
An alarm sounded and hotel employees assisted guests to evacuate safely.
The NFD reported the atrium smoke evacuation system activated and began rapidly ventilating the smoke from the atrium while firefighters pulled hoses into the building to extinguish the fire. The fire was deemed out in about 25 minutes. Firefighters searched and extinguished hot spots and used tools to open up the ceiling space and some of the wall spaces within the café to look for fire hidden in the void spaces.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.