A news release from the Oswego Fire Protection District says firefighters responded to the building at around 8:30. The fire was in a boiler room on the theater’s second floor. People in the theater were evacuated and the building’s sprinkler system was activated.
One theater employee was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. No one else was hurt.
The fire protection district says the cause of the fire was due to an issue with a faulty water heater.
Police credit a working sprinkler system with stopping a small fire that started in a Lamborghini from getting much larger and spreading to other cars in the facility, including the one parked right next to it, a 1954 “mint” condition Cadillac.
The alarm came in on Saturday at around noon for firefighters to respond to Clam Town Classics on Old Right Road.
“On arrival, they found heavy smoke coming from a unit housing a number of classic cars,” according to a post from Ipswich Public Safety.
“The source of the smoke was a 1972 Lamborghini, where a fire had started under the hood,” according to investigators. “Heat from the blaze had activated three sprinkler heads above the car, containing the fire to its point of origin.”
Chief Paul Parisi credited crews with “quick and decisive work” and said the sprinkler system prevented what could have been a massive and very costly fire. The mint-condition Cadillac was not damaged.
“Usually you only have one or two sprinkler heads activated. The fact that three sprinkler heads went off tells you just how much heat there was, yet the fire was contained only to the engine compartment,” Chief Parisi said. “The sprinkler system did just what it’s designed to do. Without it, the property loss would have been much more significant.”
The chief said the sprinklers saved hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property.
“As a business owner watching the bottom line, I didn’t care too much for sprinklers.” said the owner of Clam Town Classics, George Delaney. “Now I’ve done a 180. After seeing the difference they make, I’m a big fan.”
Draper Fire Department officials said crews responded to a tripped fire alarm at the water park just after 2 a.m. Upon arrival, they observed light smoke and found that the fire was primarily contained to the attic of the building.
Fortunately, the emergency sprinkler system had been activated, which helped to suppress the flames in the lower part of the building.
“Crews did a really good job knocking it down,” said Deputy Chief Bart Vawdrey. “They did have to cut an access hole through the top to get to it just to clear it out, and then they pulled the ceiling from below.”
The cause remains under investigation, but Draper Fire said that it doesn’t appear to be suspicious. While no official estimate has been made, crews on scene speculate that the cost of the damage to the building could be anywhere between $75,000 to $100,000.
In a post on Facebook, Cowabunga Bay said the fire damaged their phone lines, and the water park would remain closed as they survey the damage.
“We will be temporarily closed until we can assure that all of our facilities are safe for our employees and our guests,” the statement read in part. “We apologize for any inconvenience, be assured that we will be working hard to get back open so you can enjoy the best summer ever.”
“The fire was contained to the press box structure on the roof. The press box, the television control room, the former placing judges’ stand, the stewards’ stand, and the announcer’s booth, that entire area was destroyed,” said Chip Tuttle, the CEO of Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, which sold the property to HYM Development Company in 2017 but continues to lease and operate the simulcasting and advance deposit wagering business.
The grandstand has not been in use since live racing ended at the end of June 2019, although the clubhouse has remained open for simulcasting. Suffolk Downs conducted simulcasting Memorial Day and closed at 6:30 p.m. The fire broke out at 10 p.m. in the building that was constructed in 1935.
“Because the television control room was destroyed, we’re going to have some interruption of on-site simulcasting,” Tuttle said. “We’re just trying to ascertain today how long that’s going to be.”
He added that as soon as the fire started, the sprinkler system was deployed, and the Boston Fire Department responded immediately. Boston EMS crews were also on the scene.
The fire was classified as five-alarm by 11 p.m. Monday, and by 12 a.m. Tuesday it was a six-alarm blaze. Mutual aid partners from six additional fire departments across Metro Boston were called in. Boston Fire Commissioner Jack Dempsey was in command on the scene and by midnight ordered all firefighters off the Suffolk Downs roof before the flames surged through it.
The Boston Fire Department tweeted that due to the limited water supply in the area, firefighters had to relay pump to get water to the structure, which is a maneuver that required thousands of feet of hose. Firefighters battled the blaze all night, and although it was contained by Tuesday morning, they were still visible on the scene Tuesday afternoon checking for hot spots and containing them.
HYM Development is in the process of repurposing the 161-acre racetrack property into a multi-mixed use development that will include 10,000 rental apartments, condominiums, office parks, restaurants, retail businesses, and entertainment venues. An official with HYM said May 31 that the fire damage did not affect the portion of the development currently under construction and that the redevelopment is continuing.
Repairs to the old grandstand are to be determined.
“Whether the building was ultimately coming down or part of it was going to be preserved, I don’t know,” Tuttle said.
The sprinkler system activated controlling the fire, according to information from the Frisco Fire Department’s Facebook page. Crews were able to quickly finish suppressing the fire. Fire damage was limited to a small area. There were no injuries and the fire is currently under investigation.
Sprinklers at Quincy Recycling prevented a paper fire from spreading early Wednesday morning.
The Marion Fire Department responded to the business in the 6200 block of North Gateway Drive for a paper pile smoldering around 3:20 am.
When crews arrived the pile had already been extinguished by the business’s deluge sprinkler system.
The fire started near the shredder and was confined to the discharge pile.
All occupants exited the building and no one was injured.
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.
These firefighters saved the day in more ways than one.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue responded to a report of a fire at a hair salon in South Florida on Friday.
The building had to be evacuated after a dryer caught fire, setting off the fire alarm and sprinkler system.
But for one client in the hair salon, time was of the essence, firefighters said.
“She had chemicals in her hair that had to be washed out on time,” the fire department wrote.
Once firefighters determined that the situation was under control, they ran a hose from the water in their fire engine to make sure the hairstylist could properly rinse her client’s hair.
“This is a first! What you have to do when the building catches on fire and clients have color in their hair,” one woman from the salon can be heard saying in the video on the agency’s Facebook page. “Thank you, Palm Beach County Fire Department!”
Firefighters said the building’s sprinkler system put out the dryer fire, and no one was injured.
Alerted to a blaze at Peace United Church of Christ just after 2 a.m., firefighters arrived to find thick black smoke filling the building at 1503 2nd Av. NE., Fire Department spokesman K.C. Clark said.
The fire broke out in the church’s lower level between the sanctuary and an attached preschool. A portable water extinguisher was used to put out the main fire. An overhead sprinkler that had activated before firefighters arrived helped keep the fire from spreading, Clark said.
Damage was mainly confined to the area of the blaze, but there was a significant smoke on the main and lower levels, Clark said.
“Nearly all parts of the church will need remediation due to the smoke,” Clark said. “Things might have been much worse had the church not had an automatic smoke and fire alarm. Had the building not been protected by an alarm system, it is likely the building would have sustained significant fire damage.”
No one was in the building at the time, and no firefighters were hurt, Clark said.
A damage estimate was not immediately available. Officials have not determined a cause.
