Category Archives: Athletic Club/Sports Facility

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

Winnetka, IL – Dryer fire at community fitness center controlled by sprinkler system

A fire last week at the Winnetka Community House fitness center was apparently caused when towels in a fitness center dryer caught fire, Community House and fire department officials said Tuesday. The fire shut down the fitness center for several days, Winnetka Fire Chief Alan Berkowsky said, and parts of the building at 620 Lincoln Ave. sustained water and smoke damage. However, the blaze was contained in the laundry room and fitness center area, largely thanks to the building’s sprinkler system, he said.

“The sprinklers kind of held it in check until we got there,” he said. “The system did its job, which I think was what made a difference in saving the building.” Paramedics took a maintenance worker who discovered the fire to Evanston Hospital for observation after he was briefly overcome by smoke inhalation, Berkowsky said. Bob Thomas, Community House executive director and president, said the fitness center is expected to reopen Wednesday. He also said the maintenance man, who attempted to put the fire out with an extinguisher, is doing well. Berkowsky said Wilmette, Glencoe, Northbrook, Northfield, and Highland Park personnel assisted in putting out the fire.

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

Temecula, CA – Electrical fire at dance studio controlled by sprinkler system

A Temecula dance studio was damaged today when an electrical fire triggered an automated sprinkler system that poured water onto the blaze and everywhere else.  The fire was reported at 4:30 a.m. in the 28000 block of Felix Valdez Avenue, just off of Rancho California Road, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

An agency spokeswoman said six engine crews and a truck company, numbering 25 personnel, arrived within minutes and encountered smoke on the second floor of the two-story structure and went into attack mode.  On entering the 10,000-square-foot building, crews realized the fire-extinguishing sprinkler system was engaged, causing water to flow from the upper floor to the ground floor, according to the fire department.

The system was eventually shut off but caused an estimated $20,000 in damage, departmental officials said.  The sprinklers were credited with dousing the flames, which broke out as a result of faulty wiring in a bathroom fan, according to the agency.

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

Richmond, VA – Sprinklers protect country club’s interior after fire breaks out on roof

A roofing company working without a required permit sparked a fire last Friday by using a torch to seal some materials on the roof of the Westhampton Clubhouse at the Country Club of Virginia, Richmond fire officials said.

The company, Hermitage Roofing Inc., did not obtain a permit from the Richmond Fire Department to conduct “hot work” on the clubhouse roof as required by law, said Richmond Fire Marshal David Creasy Sr. The company was cited for violating the Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code and issued a summons, Creasy said.

Contractors are required to “come in and tell us what they are doing” to secure a permit to do such work, Creasy said. “Sometimes we perform a site visit with something like this,” he added.In addition, Creasy said the fire department’s response was delayed because roofing company workers attempted — unsuccessfully — to extinguish the fire once it started before calling the fire department.

“The workers tried to put it out for several minutes with a garden hose, and so that didn’t help things for us at all,” Creasy said. “Good intentions, but when that kind of stuff happens people need to call us. Even if we get there and it’s out, at least we were there and we could help look for hidden fire.”

The fire was “in a difficult place to get to, but what really helped us in getting the fire out was a couple of sprinkler heads activated and stopped the fire’s spread in part of the building,” Creasy added. “And then our guys and girls opened up the roof so we could get to the roof area and make sure that we cut out any fire extension.”

The fire damage was “all up high,” Creasy said, but the clubhouse’s dining and lounge area sustained substantial smoke and water damage.

“You had a lot of smoke that got into the building, and the smoke traveled farther than the water and, of course, the fire,” he said. “So there may be some painting of walls (that will be required) in a much wider area of the building than any of the water damage.”

Creasy said it would be difficult to estimate the total monetary damage.

City firefighters were called at 10:44 a.m. Friday, and the first units to arrive found flames coming from a portion of the clubhouse roof. As crews worked to extinguish that fire, additional units arrived and found fire inside the building as well.

A second alarm was sounded at 11:13 a.m., primarily to get additional personnel on the scene to relieve crews because of the heat. The fire was marked under control at 11:34 a.m.

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

St. Petersburg, FL – Sprinklers knock down flames at gym after treadmill catches fire overnight

A treadmill at the LA Fitness at 5900 Fourth St. N caught fire overnight and caused minor fire and water damage to the gym, according to St. Petersburg Fire Rescue.

The treadmill caught fire for unknown reasons around 11 p.m. Wednesday night, said St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Lt. Steve Lawrence. The last employee had already left for the night.

The fire was discovered by an employee when they showed up for work around 5 a.m. Thursday. Two treadmills were destroyed, a window suffered minor damage and soot had spread throughout the building. The gym was also doused in water released by the automatic sprinkler system that was activated during the fire.

The damage left the gym closed Thursday. Lawrence said the LA Fitness was being cleaned up and it should be open again in two to three days.

The sprinklers likely saved the gym from more extensive damage, he said.

“The fire suppression system did do its job,” he said. “It was limited fire damage. The water damage can be cleaned up.”

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

Sterling, VA – Sprinkler system contains fire at Gold’s Gym following explosion; No injuries reported

Employees of Gold’s Gym in Sterling knew something was wrong when the lights inside the building started flickering on the afternoon of March 21. They evacuated everyone in the building just before there was an explosion and ensuing fire.

The fire was contained by the automatic sprinkler system and no one was injured thanks to gym employees’ quick actions. Still, the explosion and fire left an estimated $500,000 in damages, the Loudoun Fire Marshal’s Office said. The adjacent Marshalls received minor water damage.

The Gold’s facility had been placed on “fire watch” earlier in the day because the gym’s power — including power to the fire alarm system — was down. Knowing the building was having electrical problems is what led staff to recognize the dimming lights as a sign of danger, Gold’s Gym General Manager Daniel Ferrara said in a statement.

An electrical failure of a high voltage line ignited a methane gas leak in the area, which caused the explosion at the gym, said Laura Rinehart of Loudoun County Fire and Rescue.

Fire and Rescue received the call for the fire at 46262 Cranston Street around 4:30 p.m., and responded with crews from Sterling Park, Cascades, Ashburn, Lansdowne, Leesburg and Kincora, along with multiple command officers after the amount of smoke inside the building prompted first responders to request additional resources.

While inside the gym, firefighters found a small fire at the back and structural damage to the walls, so they exited the building in case it collapsed, Rinehart said. Fire Marshal’s Office and fire and rescue officials verified that the wall was not load-bearing, so firefighters re-entered the building, ensured there were no hotspots in walls and cleared out the smoke, she said.

The Fire Marshal has determined that the fire was accidental.

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

Atlanta, GA – Fire in suite area of Georgia Dome during Monster Truck rally extinguished by sprinkler system

A small grease fire in a kitchen at the Georgia Dome forced a brief evacuation during Saturday’s Monster Truck rally, according to the Atlanta Fire Department. The fire occurred in the kitchen on one of the suite levels. The evacuation happened because of the smoke.   By the time firefighters arrived, the fire was out.  The sprinkler system put out the blaze.

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

Elmont, NY – Barn fire at Belmont Park race track extinguished by sprinkler system; No horses or people injured

As reported on ESPN.com,  there were no injuries to horses or humans reported as a result of a small fire in a tack room in Barn 61 at Belmont Park on Thursday night. Michelle Nevin has most of the horses stabled in that barn. According to Glen Kozak, the New York Racing Association’s vice president of facilities/racing surfaces, some equipment was placed too close to an electric heater in a tack room, sparking the fire. The sprinkler system in the barn went off and doused the fire before the Elmont Fire Department arrived.  “No horses were moved, no horses were hurt,” Kozak said. “We were lucky, it was a very minor event with minimal damage.” Kozak estimated the damage to be $2,500 and mostly to a wall in the tack room.

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

Brownsburg, IN – Sprinkler system activates to protect bowling alley from fire on smoker’s patio

Fire caused minor damage to a Brownsburg bowling alley and sports bar early Monday morning.

Firefighters found a small fire in a smoker’s patio at the front of the building around 12:30 a.m.

The fire activated a sprinkler in the external room, but the rest of the building was not damaged by water or flames, according to the fire department.

The business was closed at the time, and no one was hurt.

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, College/University (on campus)

Lewiston, ID – Laundry fire at on-campus college activity center put out by single sprinkler

A fire at Lewis-Clark State College late last night caused an estimated $25,000 in damage. According to a press release, Lewiston Fire crews were dispatched to a reported water flow alarm at the Activity Center at 11:40 p.m.  Once on scene, crews were advised by LCSC security personnel that an alarm was sounding in the activity center. Initial crews began a search and found smoke in the basement.

“The basement had several areas near the locker room with water on the floor. After searching several rooms, it was discovered that there had been a fire in a dryer in the laundry room, and the sprinkler system had a single head that had activated and extinguished the fire,” the press release states.

Fire crews remained on scene for another hour to assist with getting the sprinkler system shut down, evacuating the smoke, and to confirm there was no extension of the fire. The cause of the fire appears to be a malfunction with the commercial dryer in the laundry room. The department responded with three structural engines, one ambulance, one truck, one service unit, and one chief officer, totaling 13 personnel. There were no citizen or firefighter injuries to report.

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

Oxnard, CA – Overnight fire at golf course clubhouse contained with help from sprinkler system

Thanks to the quick response of the Oxnard Fire Department and the help of fire units from the city of Ventura, Ventura County and Santa Paula, River Ridge Golf Course was spared any serious damage from a fire that broke out in the early morning hours last Thursday.

The fire, which was initially reported at 2:35 a.m., was located on the exterior portion of the west side of the clubhouse building which is on the opposite side of the pro shop.

Fire crews had the flames basically out by 3:12 a.m.

“We got lucky,” River Ridge General Manager Otto Kanny said. “The pictures looked pretty spectacular but we’re fine. We got a great response from the fire crews so the fire was contained on the west side exterior of the building.

“We had a lot of cleanup and patching up, tedious stuff like that and trying to get the stink out. But we got really lucky.”

When Kanny arrived that morning he said there were at least 20 firetrucks battling the blaze. It started on the farthest corner of the outside railing of the building and the flames worked their way up the pillars on the outside of the patio on that side of the building.

But thanks to the firewalls on the outside of the building, the sprinkler system and the quick work of the firefighters, the area the fire got into was minimized.

“The fire got within four feet of getting to the drapes in the banquet room,” Kanny said. “Had that happened, the fire would have climbed into the attic and that point we would have lost half of the clubhouse. We were very fortunate.”

The last of the fire crews left at 6 a.m. and Kanny said the first golfers started arriving at 6:30.

They had no power until 11 a.m., but Kanny said the pro shop staff and the rest of the River Ridge crew did yeoman’s work in making sure customers were taken care of and that golfers were able to play Thursday.

Because of the water used to put out the blaze, the banquet facility is not operational. As word got out about the fire, people in the golf business, such as Eric Burton at the city of Ventura and Saticoy Country Club general manager Phil Lopez called and offered any help they could provide.

“It was amazing to see the outreach from people in the community,” Kanny said. “With the help of others in the community we were able to hold all of the functions that were scheduled this weekend.”

Kanny said there is no word yet on what caused the fire and there is a good chance the exact cause will never be determined.