Category Archives: Office Building

Office Building, Other Business

Mountain View, CA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at Google office

An office building at Google’s Mountain View campus caught fire on Tuesday evening, resulting in approximately $200,000 worth of damage.

The blaze was reported at approximately 5:18 p.m. in a two-story building at 2081 Stierlin Court in Mountain View, the Mountain View Fire Department said in a Facebook post. Fire crews arrived on the scene approximately five minutes later after 25 employees had self-evacuated.

Fire personnel located smoke coming from a computer lab, where an overhead sprinkler had been activated. Crews were able to turn off the sprinkler and “remove water and smoke from the affected office space” without damaging the electronics.

Officials believe the lab caught fire after an “unattended electrical component” overheated on a workbench, the fire department said. Firefighters extinguished the fire and recharged the sprinkler system.

Google officials will be in charge of restoring the facility, the fire department said. The company did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment.

Office Building, Other Business

Mountain View, CA – Sprinkler system activated for lithium ion battery fire at Google office building

A malfunctioning battery lit a chair on fire in a Google office building Monday morning, causing some damage but no reported injuries, according to the Mountain View Fire Department.

Mountain View dispatchers received a 911 call at 11:37 a.m. on Jan. 22, reporting a fire alarm going off in a commercial building at 2011 Stierlin Court. When fire crews arrived, 25 Google employees had already exited the building, according to the statement.

Firefighters entered the one-story building saw smoke coming from a computer lab, and found that a sprinkler head in the affected area had been activated, according to fire officials. Firefighters turned off the flowing water and removed a burnt office chair from the building. They also used thermal imaging cameras to make sure that the fire was fully extinguished and had not spread to other parts of the building, according to the statement.

The fire was started by a lithium-ion battery that had been left in a cardboard box on an office chair. The estimated damage to the building and its contents was $50,000, the fire department said.

Office Building, Other Business

Houston, TX – Sprinkler system activated for office fire; No injuries reported

Firefighters arrived on scene to find heavy smoke coming from a 4-story office building and upgraded the response. They made an attack and checked for extension, clearing the stairwells, and opening the roof hatch. The sprinkler system had controlled and extinguished a drink cooler that had overheated and caught fire. Crews controlled the sprinkler system and ventilated the smoke from the structure. The building was turned over to the building maintenance staff on site. 60 personnel were dispatched to this incident, including firefighters from Stations 2, 28, 68, 83, 10, 60, 69, 73, 17, 57 and Rehab 8.

 

Office Building, Other Business

Yakima, WA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at office building; No injuries reported

Yakima fire officials say a fire at a North Sixth Street building caused $100,000 damage New Years’ Day.

Crews were called to the Costco Member Services Center in the 1700 block of North Sixth Street at 4:30 a.m. A fire started in a cubicle in the building and spread to a 900-square-foot area, according to a fire department post on social media. The fire also activated multiple sprinkler heads in the building, firefighters said.

Investigators traced the cause of the fire to a malfunctioning power strip.

Nobody was injured in the fire, officials said.

Office Building, Other Business

Lapeer, MI – Sprinkler system contains forklift fire at commercial building

Lapeer Fire & Rescue, along with the Elba Township Fire Dept., were called out Monday afternoon at 3:12 p.m. to Hydraulic Tubes and Fitting at 434 McCormick Ave. to a report of a forklift on fire inside the building.

When the first Lapeer truck arrived on scene firefighters found the sprinkler system had activated which contained the fire to the forklift. Firefighters advanced into the building and extinguished the fire without incident, said Lapeer Fire & Rescue Chief Mike Vogt.

“Damage was limited to the forklift, however smoke did fill a majority of the building. One employee was evaluated by Lapeer County EMS for possible smoke inhalation, but was not transported to the hospital.

“This incident is an excellent example of how important sprinkler systems are to businesses,” said Vogt. “The sprinkler system was effective at containing the fire, allowed the employees to exit the building in safe conditions, and limited overall damage to the business. We also are thankful that employees called 911 quickly. Early notification is also a critical step in persevering life and property.”

Office Building, Other Business

San Diego, CA – Sprinkler system extinguished early morning laboratory fire; No injuries reported

A fire early Wednesday in a second-floor laboratory in a Qualcomm building in Sorrento Valley was put out by sprinklers before firefighters arrived, San Diego Fire-Rescue officials said.

The fire was reported around 6:40 a.m. in a four-story building on McKellar Court off Pacific Center Boulevard called the Qualcomm Pacific Center Campus. When crews arrived, they didn’t see any smoke or fire showing from the outside the building but when they got inside, they found a fire that had been extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system.

After searching the building to check for any spread of the fire, crews worked to ensure the fire didn’t reignite. Just under 50 firefighters from San Diego and Chula Vista had responded to the fire.

No injuries were reported. No damage estimate was immediately available. A cause of the fire also wasn’t reported.

Office Building, Other Business

Dallas, TX – Sprinkler system activated for fire at office building

Dallas Fire Officials say someone set an uptown Dallas office building on fire early Tuesday morning.

The building located just off the Central Expressway access road between Blackburn and Fitzhugh Ave was surrounded by emergency vehicles around 4:00 a.m.

Officials say the building’s automatic sprinkler system was activated after an unknown suspect threw an explosive device, a so-called molotov cocktail, through an exterior window.

Jason Evans with Dallas Fire says crews were able to have the flames completely extinguished in 20 minutes.

They’re still trying to figure out who the arsonist is, and what their motive was.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the fire as the building was empty due to the time of day it happened.

One firefighter was actually injured, but not by flames. Evans says the individual was hurt while mopping up afterwards and had to be taken to the hospital.

Office Building, Other Business

Madison, WI – Sprinkler system activated for fire in trash compactor at office building; No injuries reported

Fire investigators have determined that a trash compactor fire at a local office building was started by accident.

Firefighters were dispatched to the Goodwill of South Central Wisconsin Home Office on Friday around 12:45 for a report of a fire. Occupants were evacuating as firefighters arrived.

Crews found smoke at the back of the building where the dumpster and trash compactor were located inside. Officials said an automatic fire sprinkler inside the compactor room helped control the fire until firefighters were able to put it out.

According to a news release, firefighters had to remove the dumpster and its contents from the building before they could fully extinguish the blaze. Pellitteri Waste Sytsems responded to pull the dumpster from the building so firefighters could douse the remaining flames.

Damages are estimated to be $500.

No one was injured and the building was not impacted.

Office Building, Other Business

Kelowna, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for fire in office building

Kelowna fire crews quickly knocked down a blaze at a business along Harvey Avenue on Saturday evening.

Firefighters responded to a fire in the back of a unit at 1950 Harvey Avenue at 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, activating a sprinkler as they arrived.

The sprinklers were able to contain the fire to the rear office area but did cause some water damage.

Three fire engines, a rescue unit and a command vehicle, as well as the RCMP, responded to the fire.

The Kelowna Fire Department has deemed the fire “accidental in nature,” but did not provide any further details as to what sparked the blaze.

Office Building, Other Business

Hutchinson, MN – Lone sprinkler contains large blaze at commercial business complex

A lone sprinkler head may have been the difference between a small, contained fire and a large blaze Sunday night.

According to Hutchinson Fire Chief Mike Schumann, a fire broke out in one of the units at the city-owned Enterprise Center commercial business complex at 1164 Benjamin Ave. S.E. A utility cart with flammable paint supplies on it ignited in the building at approximately 6:45 p.m.

The fire activated a sprinkler head, which contained the fire until firefighters arrived and were able to extinguish and set up ventilation to clear out the smoke. Firefighters also assisted with removing water on the floor and salvaging other items.

Schumann said it was a great example of how valuable sprinkler systems can be.

“If it were not for the early warning and activation of the automatic fire sprinkler system, this could easily have been a multimillion dollar loss with a catastrophic impact on the operation of multiple local businesses.”