Category Archives: Other Business

Brossard, QC, Canada – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at mosque; No injuries reported

An early morning fire at the Islamic Community Centre on Grande Allee Blvd. in Brossard, Que., was most likely started by an electrical issue, according to Longueuil Police.

Firefighters arrived at the mosque around 1a.m Saturday morning. The fire was already being extinguished by the building’s emergency sprinkler system. Firefighters were able to control the blaze in about 30 minutes.

According to security footage, there was nobody inside at the time. No injuries were reported.

Investigators say there is about $50,000 in damages.

Denver, CO – Sprinkler system activated for fire at Denver Broncos stadium; No injuries reported

A fire that broke out in the home stadium of the NFL’s Denver Broncos destroyed rows of seats and damaged a suite area on Thursday, authorities said.

The Denver Fire Department responded to Empower Field at Mile High at about 2:15 p.m. MDT, Capt. Greg Pixley told The Denver Post. The fire was extinguished approximately 30 minutes later as firefighters and the stadium’s sprinkler system brought the blaze under control.

“This fire burned very hot. We’re lucky the sprinkler system started to hold the fire in check,” Pixley told the newspaper. “This was a significant fire.”

Stadium officials said in a statement on Twitter that the fire occurred in a construction zone near the East Club Lounge. Pixley said the fire ignited on the fourth level of the stadium and spread to the third-level seats, KDVR-TV reported. Smoke interrupted an event on the second floor that had about 100 people in attendance, but there are no reports of injuries, the television station reported.

Pixley said the sprinkler system was activated in the indoor seating area, but there was no sprinkler system over the exposed stadium seats, according to the Post.

That exposed the stadium’s plastic seats to the blaze.

“This type of plastic that the seats are composed of burns with not only significant ferocity, very large flames, but also produces a tremendous amount of black smoke,” Pixley told reporters.

Six rows of seats in two sections near the suites were destroyed, KCNC-TV reported.

Staunton, VA – Sprinkler system activated for vehicle fire in building

Crews responded to a fire this evening at Roto-Rooter Plumbing in Staunton as a service vehicle caught fire in one of the bays of the building. Everyone in the building got out safely but one person was sent to Augusta Health for smoke inhalation.

“The building had a sprinkler system so it activated and kept the fire to the vehicle. We only had minor heat damage to two adjacent vehicles and to the structural members above it but it was minimal due to the sprinkler system activating,” said Greg Schacht, Augusta County Fire Chief. No word yet on what caused the fire.

Auburn, NY – Sprinkler system activated for overnight fire at automotive repair shop; No injuries reported

The work of firefighters and a functioning sprinkler system kept an overnight fire at a downtown Auburn automotive repair shop from causing structural damage to the main building.

The Auburn Fire Department responded to a call made by the Auburn Police Department at 11:59 p.m. Monday for a fire at Trombley’s Automotive Services at 10 E. Garden St., AFD Chief Mark Fritz said.

Firefighters encountered an exterior blaze on the east side of the building and had it extinguished within roughly an hour, Fritz said.

The fire appeared to have started in a wooden enclosure outside the building that was used to store tires. Investigators were still working to determine how it started as of Tuesday afternoon.

Fritz said the fire did not cause any structural damage to the building. One reason for that was the building’s sprinkler system, which has sprinkler heads at every window.

“That operated as it should and kept the fire from going into the building,” Fritz said.

The chief said there were no reports of injuries.

Because the fire damage was limited, Trombley’s was open for business as usual on Tuesday morning.

Attleboro, MA – Sprinkler system contains fire in building; No injuries reported

An electrical machine caught fire early Monday morning at Sensata Technologies on Pleasant Street.

The sprinkler system in the building at 533 Pleasant St., contained the fire but smoke filled the third floor, where the machine is located, Deputy Fire Chief Tim Birch said Tuesday.

No injuries were reported.

Investigators estimated the fire, which was reported about 12:15 a.m. Monday, caused between $75,000 and $100,000 damage.

The machine was not operating at the time but was plugged into an electrical socket, Birch said.

Firefighters spent about three hours at the scene investigating and clearing smoke from the building.

The exact cause was undetermined but it appeared to be an accident, Birch said.

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.

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.

Lexington, KY – Sprinkler system activated for fire at ice rink

People enjoying some ice skating last night at the Lexington Ice and Recreation Center had quite the scare when a small fire started inside the building

According to the Lexington Fire Department, crews responded to the call around 9:17 p.m. Saturday.

The department says when they arrived everyone had evacuated from the building…and they were able to put out the fire with the help of the buildings sprinkler system.

The Fire Department says one girl did suffer minor injuries but was treated at the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Branson, MO – Church fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Branson firefighters helped clean up a church that caught on fire Saturday evening, which allowed the church to hold its Sunday morning service without any setbacks.

Fire crews responded after an automatic fire alarm went off Saturday at Faith and Wisdom Church.

When firefighters arrived, they determined the fire had started in a small utility room. The fire had been extinguished by the fire sprinkler system, but firefighters had to shut off the sprinklers.

Crews helped out with extensive cleanup, using vent fans to clear out the smoke. They also used squeegees to remove water from the building to prevent it from spreading into the sanctuary.

It’s unclear how much damage the fire caused at this time or how it started. Though the church was able to reopen Sunday and hold morning services.

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.”