Category Archives: Other / Not Specified

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Spokane, WA – Security video shows sprinkler system tackling fire at commercial building

A video captures the start of a commercial fire at downtown Spokane business and highlights the importance of having a working sprinkler system. 

It is fortunate that a security camera was positioned in such a way to capture the entire life cycle of this fire. It does not happen very often that fire departments get video that shows how a fire might start, how it progresses, and how it can be controlled in a true, unsupervised everyday environment.

“This video shows how something that starts out small can quickly escalate without the proper fire suppression systems in place,” says City of Spokane Fire Marshal Michael Miller. “If not for the working sprinkler, this fire could have been much worse. This is another example of why we stress the importance of installing and properly maintaining automatic fire suppression and detection systems.”

The video captures a fire that started on January 28, 2016 in the Symons Building (15 S. Howard St.), a four story commercial building. The first indication of a problem can be seen when there is a brief flicker from a light fixture that is located in a main floor storage room. Hot material begins to drip from the fixture to the floor level where it ignited some plastic and consequently moved into the adjacent wood wall. The sprinkler head activated and helped confine the fire to a small area. Fire crews also credit the business for having a clean and orderly storeroom which helped in not providing a lot of fuel to the fire in its earliest stage. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within 20 minutes. No injuries were reported. 

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Racine, WI – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire in commercial building; no injuries reported

About $3,000 damage resulted from a fire Tuesday morning at a commercial building in the Uptown area.

The fire, which was reported at about 9:15 a.m., originated on the second floor of the building at 1232 Washington Ave. on pallets holding folded cardboard, Racine Fire Department Lt. Mike Moss said.

A sprinkler system put out the fire, which produced a lot of smoke because of plastics and other materials involved, Moss said.

The building is used for storage by HFI Fluid Power Products, 1210 Washington Ave., Moss said.

The area was not occupied at the time of the fire and nearby workers were able to exit unharmed. No injuries were reported.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Yuma, AZ – Fire in snake habitat at local business is put out by sprinkler system

The Yuma Fire Department said a business fire may have originated from a large snake habitat where a four-foot long ball python died. Officials said on Sunday just before 1:30 p.m., a passerby reported seeing water coming from a building at 4221 East 30th Place occupied by SunRay Electric. Yuma Fire Department personnel arrived to find that there had been a fire inside that had been extinguished by the building’s fire suppression sprinkler system. Firefighters ensured the fire was out and shut down the water flow to the system.  The fire was found to have originated in a large snake habitat and the cause is under investigation. It was stopped from spreading beyond the habitat and extinguished by the fire sprinkler system. A four-foot long ball python died in the fire. The fire damage was limited to the area of the habitat. There were no employees at the business at the time of the fire.

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St. Cloud, MN – Sprinkler system halts fire at body shop; fire started in painting booth

A fire caused around $100,000 worth of damage to a St. Cloud body shop.

The fire department says an alarm alerted them to St. Cloud Collision Center, 1801 8th Street South, near the Coborn’s on Cooper Aveune South, on Thursday at 7:49 p.m.

When firefighters got on the scene they found the sprinkler system had almost extinguished the fire and saved the building.

Officials say the fire started in the drying unit of a painting booth. The booth, a car, and a portion of the roof were damaged.

No one was in the building at the time of the fire.The fire remains under investigation. It took firefighters about two hours to clear the scene.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Sterling, VA – Sprinkler system limits spread of fire that started in paint booth

The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office has determined that the Jan. 26 fire at a Sterling commercial facility was accidental.

Just before 7:30 p.m., the Loudoun County Emergency Communications Center received a call reporting a structure fire in a commercial building in the 45000 block of Elmwood Court in Sterling.

The initial caller reported a fire in an interior paint booth which was followed by a call from the fire alarm company reporting a water flow alarm inside the structure. Fire and rescue crews from Kincora, Sterling, Cascades, Ashburn, Lansdowne, Moorefield, and Fairfax County responded to the incident, Fire and Rescue Public Information Officer Laura Rinehart said.

Upon arrival, firefighters found active fire and smoke conditions coming from the two-story commercial occupancy. Fire crews deployed hoselines to initiate an attack on the fire. The building’s sprinkler system had activated, limiting the fire spread to other portions of the building. One occupant, the initial caller, was located safely outside of the structure upon arrival of fire and rescue units, Rinehart said.

Firefighters extinguished the fire with assistance from the sprinkler system, containing the fire to the area or origin, preventing extension into adjoining areas of the structure.

The Fire Marshal’s investigation determined the fire to be accidental in nature with $25,000 damage to the structure and $75,000 to the contents. There were no injuries to civilians, though one firefighter on the scene was transported to a local area hospital for evaluation after a medical emergency, Rinehart said.

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Auburn, WA – Hallway fire at casino doused by sprinkler system

Between Jan. 9 and 15, the Valley Regional Fire Authority responded to 291 requests for service, among them the following:  Hallway fire: 5:05 p.m., (south Auburn). Having responded to a report of smoke curling out of a room at the Muckleshoot Casino, crews found in a hallway a small fire that had already been drowned by the automatic sprinkler system. Subsequent investigation determined that the fire had been an accident.

 

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Redmond, OR – Downed power line causes fire at wood products business; Sprinklers contain blaze

A downed power line fell onto a roof at Redmond’s Bright Wood Corp., sparking a fire in an electrical box Sunday morning, officials said. A sprinkler system contained the blaze until power was shut off, but damage and expected repair costs still totaled an estimated $400,000. Redmond fire crews were called out around 10:20 a.m. to the Bright Wood mill at 630 Southeast First Street, said Fire Marshal Traci Cooper.  Firefighters arrived to find the downed power lines and a fire in an electrical box in a mill building, Cooper said.  The sprinkler system activated and contained the fire until Pacific Power could shut off electricity to the area, she added.  Fire crews then ventilated the building to remove smoke and ensure the blaze was extinguished.  The fire marshal said the cause of the downed power line was not known, though freezing rain had been reported in the area.

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Medford, OR – Fire at commercial laundry business contained with help from sprinkler system

Firefighters battled both fire and ice Thursday night in northwest Medford when they responded at 8:50 to a blaze at Alsco Inc., 980 Ellen Ave. The building, a commercial laundry facility, sustained “moderate smoke damage,” with no visible damage to the structure, according to an agency Facebook post. An investigation showed the fire ignited in a large dryer that had been filled with mop heads and other textiles. The materials were left in the dryer by accident, fire officials said, likely leading them to smolder, ignite, then spread to some nearby linen bags. Alarms in the building began to sound and the facility’s sprinkler system kicked on.  Fire crews initially responded to the scene with four engines, but quickly upgraded the response to a second alarm because of the amount of smoke and the fire’s location deep in the building.

“Second alarm is actually used for resource improvement,” said Medford Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Erin Sawall. “It could be for any myriad of needs.” Six engines from Medford Fire-Rescue and Jackson County Fire District No. 3 responded, tangling with ice outside while they fought the fire inside. Thursday night’s low temperature in Medford dipped to 18 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, turning the roads outside into a skating rink for firefighters while they prepared hoses.  “It was a very icy scene,” Sawall said. “Crews operated in a pretty dangerous atmosphere.”  Crews deployed salt to help. One firefighter did slip, Sawall said, but he wasn’t seriously injured. No other injuries were reported. Firefighters had the flames extinguished within a half hour, but spent almost three more hours on scene venting the buildup of smoke.  Fire officials said the building’s sprinkler system was a big help in snuffing the flames.  “It had some serious potential,” Sawall said. “Under these conditions, that’s the best we can hope for.”

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Mansfield, OH – Sprinkler system keeps cardboard fire at business development center from spreading

Braintree Business Development Center, 201 E. Fifth St., Mansfield – Firefighters were contacted about an alarm going off early Saturday. They arrived to find heavy white smoke that limited visibility. Cardboard had caught fire in a single room. A sprinkler activated to keep the fire from spreading. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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Fair Lawn, NJ – Arson fire at commercial building extinguished by sprinkler system

A man was charged with burglary and arson after he broke into a River Road building and set a trash can on fire, police said.  Police responded to 13-09 River Road on a report of a fire.  Police found that a fire had occurred in the building’s trash room and that the sprinkler system extinguished it.  Detective Paul Donohue investigated and, after reviewing video evidence, arrested Edward Ostrowicz, 26, of Saddle River, Metzler said. Ostrowicz is homeless, but found him at his parents’ home, police said.