Category Archives: Office Building

Office Building, Other Business

Pinellas Park, FL – Office fire at flea market put out with help from sprinkler system

A fire broke out at a Pinellas Park market early Tuesday morning. Firefighters arrived at the Wagon Wheel Flea Market at 7801 Park Boulevard North. They said there was heavy smoke pouring out of the main building. Officials said the sprinkler system kicked in and helped put out the flames. Firefighters said they believe the fire started in the main office but the cause remains under investigation.

Office Building

Columbus, OH – Fire in server room at office tower put out with help from sprinkler system

A small fire in a computer server room was quickly contained Wednesday morning at the Rhodes Tower. More than a dozen fire crews responded to the officer tower around 10 a.m. Wednesday on a report of a fire alarm. Columbus Fire Battalion Chief Steve Martin said there was a small fire in a server room on the 36th floor of the building. A sprinkler system helped put the fire out before most of the firefighters arrived on the scene, Martin said. No injuries were reported and the building is open. East Broad Street was closed for a short time as fire crews needed access to the street.

Office Building, Other Business

Simi Valley, CA – Sprinkler system activates to assist firefighters in commercial business fire

Firefighters responded to a commercial structure on fire in Simi Valley on Saturday evening.  The fire was reported at 5:49 p.m. at 67 W. Easy St. The building is part of an office park called Simi Business Park West.  Firefighters arrived on the scene to find smoke coming out of the two-story building and the sprinkler system activated.  The fire was knocked down at 6:18 p.m., authorities said

Office Building, Other Business

Edina, MN – Fire at office building extinguished by sprinkler system

Officials in Edina have said that a fire that damaged a business on Bush Lake Road earlier this week was started by a charging cellphone.

The Edina Fire Department was called to employee engagement company BI Worldwide at 7:33 a.m. Tuesday when the building’s sprinkler system was triggered.

It was later established that an employee sitting in her cubicle saw sparks coming from her charging cellphone that “quickly ignited nearby combustibles.”

Workers were able to extinguish the flames and leave the building, only for the fire to re-ignite before being knocked down by the sprinkler system.

One worker had to be taken to Fairview Southdale Hospital with smoke inhalation.

The fire damage was contained to just four cubicles, but the building itself suffered water and smoke damage.

“It’s great that BI Worldwide had fire extinguishers in place and employees knew how to use them, but most importantly, employees exited the building and the fire sprinkler system extinguished the fire, keeping the fire damage to a minimum, which will allow them to reoccupy this building sometime soon,” said Fire Marshal Rick Hammerschmidt in a press release.

“This is another great example of the value of having a fire sprinkler system in a building or in a home. If this building didn’t have a fire sprinkler system, BI Worldwide may not have been able to reoccupy this building.

“The content damage and impact on business and employees would have been extreme.”

Office Building, Other Business

Healdsburg, CA – Sprinkler system limits damage in commercial building fire

Firefighters responded to a three-story commercial building fire near the Healdsburg downtown plaza Thursday afternoon, shutting down a portion of the city’s main thoroughfare for two hours. The Thanksgiving Day fire started just before 4:30 p.m. in the Brandt Insurance building in the 200 block of Healdsburg Avenue. A malfunctioning heater in the third-floor ceiling caused the smoke and flames, which set off the building’s internal sprinkler system, Healdsburg Fire Marshal Linda Collister said. Crews with Cal Fire, Cloverdale, Dry Creek Rancheria, Geyserville, Rincon Valley, Santa Rosa and Windsor assisted the Healdsburg Fire Department in extinguishing the blaze within 40 minutes. The southbound lanes of Healdsburg Avenue were reopened just after 6 p.m. Thursday. The building, which houses the insurance company, as well as retail stores on the first and second floors, was saved by its sprinkler system and had no structural, Collister said. She estimated the damage at $20,000-$30,000. 

Office Building, Other Business

Paso Robles, CA – Office fire that started in server cabinet is contained by single sprinkler

On Sunday, fire personnel responded to a two-story, commercial building located at 1255 Las Tablas Road in Templeton. Crews heard an audible water flow alarm and upon further investigation found the upstairs portion of the building fully charged with smoke. Crews requested a full commercial structure fire response. Fire crews made access to the building and found one fire sprinkler had activated above a computer cabinet. The fire sprinklers kept the fire contained to the cabinet.

Due to the size and construction features of the building, it took crews several hours to ventilate the smoke from the second story. The fire sprinklers also caused a significant amount of water damage and crews worked hard to remove the water and prevent further damage to the property contained inside the structure.

Crews spent approximately 20 minutes to contain the fire. Crews remained at the scene for approximately 4 hours for salvage, overhaul, and investigation. No injuries were reported. The occupants of the building were Central Coast Gastroenterology, the Wellness Kitchen, and Pacific Premier Bank. No injuries were reported.

The fire started on the second floor in a computer server cabinet. It was determined to be caused by an electrical malfunction in the computer server cabinet.

Office Building, Other Business

Hyannis, MA – Sprinkler system douses fire in commercial office building; No injuries reported

Firefighters were called to an automatic fire alarm at 45 Plant Road in Hyannis about 7 PM Friday evening. Crews investigated and discovered a small fire on the second floor of the commercial structure that had been doused by sprinklers. There was some water damage. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Government Office, Government/Military, Office Building

Edmonton, AB, Canada – No injuries reported in 11th floor office blaze; Sprinkler system activated to assist firefighters

A fire at a downtown Edmonton office building has displaced hundreds of Alberta government employees and crippled critical online industrial applications handled by government computer servers.  According to Environment and Parks spokesperson Matt Dykstra, 465 government employees across five ministries have been moved to different offices, or are working from home while damage is being repaired.

“There was smoke and water damage from the sprinkler systems that impacted a few different floors as well as the air conditioning system for the building,” said Dykstra.  “The hot weather that we have right now makes it unsafe for employees to be working in that building at this time.”  The July 30 fire, on the 11th floor of the Forestry Building, 9920 108th St., also affected the data centre in the mechanical room.  “It’s rendering the Alberta Environment and Parks server non-operational,” Dykstra said.

He said the public won’t notice any delays, but a notice posted on the Environment and Parks website says that due to the fire, telephone calls to the information centre will not be answered, and all inquiries must be made by email.  There will also be an impact on industry. The damaged computer servers are used by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER).

The service disruption means online applications that would normally take two or three days to process will be slower. In an online bulletin, the AER said applications done manually will now take up to two weeks to approve.

AER spokesperson Shawn Roth said in an email a workaround has been developed in meantime.  “The AER will be manually processing applications for Temporary Field Authorizations (TFAs), seismic exploration permits, and formal land disposition applications and issuing temporary approvals by email until the systems are restored.”

However, the AER bulletin also indicated some work has been put on hold, until the servers are back in operation. The AER said it is unable to accept new applications for formal land dispositions, or to process TFA applications that require documentation on First Nations consultation. The Alberta government leases the Forestry Building office space from Vancouver-based property management and investment firm, QuadReal Property Group.

Dykstra said he doesn’t know when employees will be back in the building or when the computer servers will be working again. The cause of the fire has not been determined, and there is no estimate of damage.

Office Building, Other Business

Hyannis, MA – Sprinkler system controlled laptop fire at The Times offices

UPDATE 1:30 P.M. – The Times states that the fire started in a laptop computer, burned the edge of a desk and spread to a chair.  The chair fire released clouds of smoke before being extinguished.  [You may recall Fire Marshal Ostroskey speaking with us on “Lower Cape Today” about the smoke and toxic fumes that come from burning furniture in today’s homes.]

UPDATE 10:30 A.M. – The Times is reporting that a chair caught fire in the Display Advertising Department.  Firefighters reportedly removed the chair and vented smoke from the structure.

Firefighters were dispatched to the offices of the Cape Cod Times offices on Main Street in Hyannis around 8:30 Saturday morning.  

The initial response came after sprinkler activation sounded automatic alarms.  Upon their arrival, firefighters discovered smoke in the building.

No injuries have been reported and the sprinkler system appears to have controlled the fire.

No further information is available at this time.

Office Building, Other Business

Penticton, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system helps limits spread of fire in 75-year old building

A fire in Penticton’s Cannery Trade Centre was contained before it could spread through the heritage building.  John Cain, one of the owners, said there was no downtime for businesses located in the building. They were able to open Monday morning.

“Everybody has co-operated marvelously, and our tenants have been outstanding and understanding. Everybody is working,” said Cain. “Jill Bateman, the administrator, has been looking after this miraculously.”

Penticton firefighters were called to the Cannery, which houses a variety of businesses in the 75-plus-year-old building, at about 1 a.m. on June 25. They arrived to find alarms ringing and the sprinkler system activated.

When they entered the building, they also found smoke, which they were able to trace to the second-floor residence.  Crews were able to fight the fire from the interior and contain it to the area of origin, though it was scaled up to a third alarm. Capt. Dennis Smith of the Penticton Fire Department said that was because of the potential of the fire to grow into a major event, especially considering the size and age of the building.

“We were travelling right through the building,” he said. “We just called out some help sooner rather than later.

“It’s always a bit of a challenge to figure out what the structure is composed of when we are into those buildings. Especially an older one like that. It’s been here for decades, with lots of additions and alterations.”

Smith said the fire sprinkler system played a big part in helping contain the fire to a limited area. “We have fire inspections regularly, and I can tell you the building management down there is on top of things there as far as fire systems and maintaining their building,” said Smith. “That’s one of the reasons that fire was handled efficiently and quickly, and without a huge loss. The fire prevention aspects were all functioning well.

Smith said the fire appears to have started on the exterior of the building, spreading up through the soffit and into the attic. But the exact cause will have to come from the fire inspector, who was on scene Monday morning.