Category Archives: Other / Not Specified

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Santa Maria, CA – Sprinkler system activated for commercial business fire; No injuries reported

Firefighters got the call at 4:17 a.m., an official with Santa Maria Fire Department confirmed on Monday.

Crews were able to knock the fire down quickly.

Because the building’s sprinkler system was activated, fire officials say the fire only extended into a small portion of the building.

Investigators are reviewing security footage as they work to determine the cause of the fire.

Fire crews responded to a structure fire in Santa Maria early Monday morning.

Officials say the fire broke out on the 300 block of North Blosser Rd. in Santa Maria. According to a tweet the department shared, the fire started outside the building and burned into it, activating the building’s sprinkler system.

Santa Maria Fire Department sent four engines and a truck to fight the fire. Santa Maria Police Department and AMR were also on scene.

No one was injured in the blaze, but fire officials are urging people to avoid the area.

The fire’s cause is under investigation.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Loveland, CO – Sprinkler system activated for commercial business fire; No injuries reported

An indoor sprinkler system helped Loveland firefighters contain a commercial fire at The Forge Campus at the former Hewlett-Packard campus in southwest Loveland early Monday morning.

According to a Facebook post from the Loveland Rescue Authority, crews responded to a fire alarm at a building at 815 14th St. SW just after 4 a.m. Monday. Once on scene crews found a fire in the building that was being controlled by a sprinkler. The fire sprinklers, according to the post, contained the fire to the area of origin in the manufacturing portion of the business.

The incident was upgraded to a commercial structure fire, calling in additional LFRA resources as well as a Thompson Valley EMS ambulance to the scene. The post added crews quickly extinguished the fire, which involved hazardous materials, and hazmat personnel worked to identify the materials involved as well as necessary mitigating actions.

Tim Smith, who was recently promoted to operations division chief, said that the fire was still under investigation and no injuries were reported.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Petoskey, MI – Sprinkler system activated for lithium-ion battery fire at resort

What could’ve potentially been a large structure fire Tuesday afternoon at a Petoskey motorcoach resort was averted because of a building’s sprinkler system.

Al Welsheimer, Resort/Bear Creek Fire Department’s fire chief, said a sprinkler system and two heads which were activated saved the clubhouse building at Hearthside Grove Luxury Motorcoach Resort, located north of Petoskey off U.S. 31 at 2075 Cidarpress Dr.

“They have a clubhouse there that’s owned by the members of the membership of the club,” Welsheimer said. “The call came in as a fire in the office and we also received a call from the commercial fire alarm company as their smoke sensors were activated and Kirk Rose (Hearthside Grove Luxury Motorcoach Resort developer) called and said there was a fire in the office with batteries on fire.

“There was a small explosion.”

Welsheimer said Resort/Bear Creek Fire Department received the call at 4:33 p.m. and firefighters were on scene at 4:40 p.m.

“We had the fire out at 5 p.m. and cleared at 5:28 p.m.,” Welsheimer said. “What it was is they had two Segways in an office, which was more like a break room, and the battery packs were on a charger charging and one of the battery packs basically caught on fire. They are a rechargeable lithium ion battery that can be recharged and it basically caught on fire.”

Welsheimer said the important part of the fire was the heat and smoke activated the building’s sprinkler system, and the “sprinkler system basically put the fire out.”

“As far as damage goes, besides obviously water damage, there was very little damage and no damage to the structure of the building,” Welsheimer said. “There was very little damage to the room where the origin of the fire was, just a little bit of charring on the wall and we had to rip some of the wall apart just to make sure there was not extension and some of the ceiling tiles, but the sprinkler system is what activated and saved this building from basically being an hour fire from an all-night fire for us.”

The Ciderpress Club located within Hearthside Grove is an 18,000 square foot Craftsman-style clubhouse which sits on 9.5 acres in the center of the motorcoach’s resort. The building includes a café, outdoor pavilion, game room and movie theater, according to the resort’s website.

“That’s huge,” Welsheimer said of the sprinkler system’s activation in saving the building. “Sprinkler systems take such a bad rap, I think because everybody thinks of the ‘I Love Lucy’ scene where all the sprinkler heads go off and everybody gets wet.”

Welsheimer said the sprinkler system saved tens of thousands of dollars of potential damage had they not been installed and properly working.

“You think of that sprinkler head, it’s sitting there 24/7, 365,” Welsheimer said. “It’s like a little fire guy sitting there with a hose waiting for a fire to go off so he can spray his water. As long as they’re maintained on an annual basis, that’s what they’re supposed to do and this was a textbook example of what the system is supposed to do.”

Welsheimer noted manufacturers of sprinkler systems don’t necessarily sell them as a way to put out a fire as much as they help contain the fire.

“But in certain situations, obviously, it will depending on the size of the fire and what’s burning,” Welsheimer said. “The main goal is to get it to contain the fire to a smaller location and get people out of the building safely if there’s people in the building.”

EMS personnel also responded to the fire, Welsheimer said, to check on Rose and another man who was in the building at the time for smoke ventilation. No serious injuries occurred.

“They were cold because they got wet,” Welsheimer said. “All-in-all it was a very good outcome.

“I think it’s really important to emphasize how important sprinkler systems are,” Welsheimer added. “I know some people have residential sprinkler systems and the install of those have come down a long ways. In this case, they (Hearthside Grove) might have some water damage and have to replace some drywall and the perimeter, but the building is still standing.”

Welsheimer said this is also the time of year where fire departments also begin to respond to more chimney fires.

“We’ve had one so far this year and I know Melrose (Township) had one last Saturday which ended up being a structure fire,” Welsheimer said. “We’re at that time of season where people should be cleaning their chimneys and making sure they’re being inspected and cleaning them on a monthly basis if they’re regularly using them.”

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Hopkinton, MA – Sprinkler system activated for vehicle fire inside painting business; No injuries reported

Sprinklers helped prevent a vehicle fire inside a Hopkinton vehicle painting business from spreading through the building, which had fire trucks parked inside, officials said.

Firefighters were called at 1:30 a.m. to the building at 17 Winter Street.

“Upon their arrival, they entered the building and found heavy smoke conditions in the building. Upon further investigation, they found a motor vehicle fire in the paint booth at this location,” Hopkinton Fire Department Chief William Miller said. “A sprinkler had activated and held the fire in check.”

There were no employees in the building at the time, and no injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Chilliwack, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for fire at resource society; No injuries reported

Just after 7: 20 AM Saturday morning, 20 firefighters from Chilliwack firehalls 1 and 4 responded to a fire alarm and sprinkler activation in a 2 storey supportive housing building located in the 45000 block of Hocking Avenue.

This is with PCRS and formally known as the Contact Centre.

Fire crews accessed the vacant first floor unit to find a single sprinkler head had activated, extinguishing the fire that originated on the bedroom night table.

Firefighters confirmed the fire was out, ventilated the smoke and shut off the sprinkler system.

There was minor fire, smoke and water damage in the unit.

There were no civilian or firefighter injuries.

Cause of the fire appears to be accidental and continues to be investigated by the Chilliwack Fire Department.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Lakewood, NJ – Sprinkler system activated for structure fire

Authorities & neighboring departments are responding to 1985 Rutgers University Boulevard for a reported working structure fire. This building is home to several tenants inside the Industrial Park- and the Lakewood Fire Department is on scene investigating. Ocean County fire Marshall has been called in- along with the FAST team. Officials on scene reporting the activated sprinkler system knocked down much of the fire.

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Tucson, AZ – Sprinkler system activated for dryer fire; No injuries reported

A dryer fire broke out on the northeast side, but is now under control. 

The fire occurred at 6900 block of East Tanque Verde Road near Sabino Canyon Road but has been declared under control, Tucson Fire Department says. 

Officials say a large industrial dryer fire set off the sprinklers in the laundry room. No injuries or extended fire damage were reported at the scene. 

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Vancouver, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system contains fire; No injuries reported

An automatic sprinkler system extinguished an early-morning blaze Thursday at AKS Engineering & Forestry, according to the Vancouver Fire Department.

The call came in initially as a water flow alarm at 9600 N.E. 126th Ave., Capt. Raymond Egan said, but a Clark County sheriff’s patrol went by the building, smelled smoke and reported a fire. The call was then upgraded to a full commercial fire alarm shortly before 2 a.m., emergency dispatch records show.

Engine 4 was the first to arrive and found the fire inside had been contained to the original area by the fire sprinkler system, Egan said. Crews worked for about 45 minutes on clearing the smoke from the building and shutting off the fire sprinklers, he said.

There were no injuries.

The Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Hillsboro, OR – Sprinkler system activated for fire at business; No injuries reported

A building in a Hillsboro business park was evacuated on Thursday after a fire broke out inside one of the businesses, setting off the sprinkler system, fire officials said.

Hillsboro Fire & Rescue and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue crews were called out at about 11:30 a.m. on reports of a fire alarm at the Sunset West Business Park off Northeast 25th Avenue.

Everyone made it safely out of the building, fire officials said, and there are no initial reports of injuries.

Firefighters found and extinguished the fire which was contained to a small area inside one of the companies, saying it involved “specialty materials commonly found in high-tech manufacturing.”

A HazMat team was called out to assess the potential impact that the specialty materials may have, which prompted fire crews to order evacuations of the nearby businesses.

Investigators have not confirmed a cause of the fire.

“Hillsboro Fire & Rescue would like to thank Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, Hillsboro Police, Metro West Ambulance, and Portland General Electric for their assistance.”

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Evansville, IN – Fire inside building extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Fire officials were called to a building fire on Wednesday morning. Crews arrived to 5401 Highway 41 after 911 dispatchers received a call stating there was a fire inside the building. The first crew arrived at 2:50 a.m. and reported light smoke conditions.

An area of fire was discovered that had been mostly extinguished by the fire sprinkler system. The fire damage was mostly contained to the contents and an interior wall of the business. According to officials, the fire cause is accidental and no injuries were reported.