Category Archives: Other Business

Office Building, Other Business

Franklin, TN – Extension cord fire at office building stopped by fire sprinklers

An automatic fire sprinkler system protected a five-story Cool Springs office building from fire Tuesday morning. 

According to Franklin Fire Investigator Lt. Bill Almon, the fire started around 6:30 a.m. in a first-floor office at 127 International Dr. A single fire sprinkler head activated and controlled the fire prior to the Franklin Fire Department’s arrival, protecting the 142,000-square-foot building, which includes IRS offices.  

Upon arrival, firefighters completed extinguishment and assisted with the sprinkler system, clean-up and smoke removal.

Almon said resistance heating created by a piece of furniture placed on an extension cord that was powering a printer allowed heat to build up and appeared to have ignited the fire.

He estimated fire and water damage at $20,000.  

Office Building, Other Business

Waianae, HI – Sprinkler system helps stop arson attack on office; No injuries reported

Megale Cole is counting his blessings. He said, he is thankful no one was hurt in the early morning attack on his HI Royalty Records office in Waianae.

He was picking up the pieces of charred mementos that survived the firebomb less then 12 hours prior.

He held up an old photo of himself in his army uniform from basic training more than two decades earlier, the edges charred.

“It’s one of the few pictures I have leftover from those days. I don’t have many of these. It means a lot to me,” he said, holding the partially burned photograph.

The Army veteran said, his military training kicked in as soon as the firebomb exploded through his office door just before 3 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 22.

“I think my army training is what saved me today. That’s the truth,” Cole said, matter-of-factly.

Cole said, he was working late and stopped to take a break when he heard a crackling noise outside. He said, it sounded like fire so he stood up to check it out.

“I see the crackling through the door. I see the fire, the flames. I see an individual that’s short through the crack in the door,” Cole said. “Next thing I know, I hear the flame, it hits the door and it goes through. lt hits the wall and flame shot off the wall.”

He said, the flames spread to the couch.

“So I hurried up, got my army gear, and put out the fire to the couch. I came back over here and start putting the fire out,” Cole explained as he pointed to the wall above his desk.

That is when the sprinkler system kicked on, helping to put out the fire and minimizing the damage to his office.

“I had a lot of past pictures of my family on the wall so some of that got burnt off. So there’s water damage, computer damage, furniture damage and the carpets of course, it’s a lot of water to drain out.”

But he knows things could have been much worse. Police found evidence from a gasoline bomb once they arrived.

“It was a brick metal Molotov Cocktail bottle. The bottle they used, the Coke bottle, was found here (as he pointed to his desk). It was a metal pipe they used to project it through (the door). We found evidence outside — two pieces of evidence outside,” he said.

Cole got emotional as he talked about the attack he believes may have been racially motivated.

“This was an attack on me as a soldier, as a part-time recruiter, as a veteran, as a father. And again, if this can happen to me here, this can happen to anyone… I don’t hate the person who did this, but I want the world to see this. I wasn’t doing anything wrong but this is our country. This is where it’s at,” Cole said, choking back tears.

Cole said, he spoke to the Honolulu Police Department and the FBI. The investigation is ongoing, according to police.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Asheville, NC – Sprinkler system keeps building fire in check; No injuries reported

Asheville FD says a sprinkler system helped contain a fire that broke out Friday morning at a building along College Street.

AFD reported in a Facebook post on Saturday more details about the fire. The department said the fire was caused by people who had lit combustibles to keep warm, and was located in the floor between the 2nd and 3rd floor. The sprinkler system cut on and kept it in that area.

Crews did not report any injuries.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Plant City, FL – Waste bin fire controlled by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

A fire sparked to life in the wee hours of the morning on Jan. 11 in the Mann Building in historic downtown on Reynolds Street. 

Smoke wafted out of the old building and the fire department saw a stream of water flowing from Mr. Sebas Ice Cream Store. There was an attempt to get access to keys to get into the building and the firefighters eventually forced entry into the ice cream store, according to the incident report. The water was there, but there were no active sprinklers. So the second floor was entered. The hallways were clear, no smoke barred the way and the historic doors — all of which were locked — were opened before the department entered a suite toward one end of the hall.

Smoke blanketed the floor and a trail of black, charred wood led up a small section of the back wall. The fire was smoldering, confined to the area of its initial blaze, thanks to the renovation in the 90s that led to the instillation of a sprinkler system into the old building. The two sprinkler heads were able to keep it quelled until the department could finish extinguishing the fire. 

The incident report states the fire was found to be caused by a waste bin fire while no one was in the building. The flames then extended to cabinetry nearby. However, the sprinklers were able to contain the fire to the area of origin. 

“The last time we had a fire in downtown, we lost half a city block of historic buildings,” Ed Verner, owner of the Mann and Lee buildings, said. “I think that was on everyone’s mind that night. There was a quick response, both by the fire department and several of those who work in the two buildings who rushed over to provide keys… the sprinkler system in place absolutely dampened the flames and probably saved both buildings. The fire department did a great job at responding quickly and doing their best to ensure that the fire did not spread to the rest of the building.”

Verner said when he arrived on the scene he even saw Fire Chief David Burnett with a mop in his hand, attempting to get rid of some of the water. 

The Mann and the Lee buildings are now joined following the renovation Verner had done in the late 90s. Each had a brick wall that was adjacent to one another. Though each had major renovations, much of the original hundred-year-old wooden structure remains in place. 

The dousing of the fire has led to water damage throughout the building, but Verner has already begun repairs. 

“Theres a few people I think it’s important I thank for their quick actions that helped assist in responding to that night,” Verner said. “LaRoyce Keene and Debby Keene were one of the first on the scene to help assist the firefighters and helped them get access to the Mann Building. Tom Thompson was also there to help give access to the Lee Building. Robert Norton also responded before the sprinklers had even turned off. I also need to thank Jason Jones with Advantage Restoration. They were onsite immediately and helped to evacuate the water. They’ve helped save a lot of the damage.”

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Des Moines, IA – Laundromat dryer fire stopped by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

Des Moines fire crews are investigating the cause of a fire at a laundromat Tuesday morning.

It happened at the Coin Laundry in the 2300 block of East University Avenue at about 9 a.m.

Fire crews told KCCI the sprinkler system did its job in suppressing the fire. They believe it may have started in a dryer vent.

There were no injuries reported in the fire. Traffic in one westbound lane of East University Avenue was closed so crews could work at the scene.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Brockton, MA – (no media coverage) Laundromat fire caused by greasy dish towel confined by sprinkler system

A greasy dish towel overheated inside a laundry bag at an industrial laundromat Friday night, starting a fire that spread from a drying rack suspended along the ceiling to a folding machine below. Brockton fire officials said there were no employees at Churchill Linen Services on Evans Street when they responded to an alarm around 10:15 p.m. Friday. The building’s sprinkler system managed to confine the flames to a small area before firefighters arrived at the laundromat, located in a large facility near the Campello commuter rail station. Deputy Fire Chief Edward Williams investigated the cause of the fire. “What happens is they wash the product, then they dry the product, then they stick the product in these big bags five feet in diameter that hang from the ceiling,” Williams said. ”  

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Conway, AR – Fire sprinklers contain fire at recycling center; No injuries reported

No one was injured in a commercial structure fire that was reported at JSI Metal Recycling in Conway on Wednesday morning.

The Conway Fire Department was called out at 8:46 a.m. Monday regarding a fire inside the recycling center and was on scene in less than one minute, Fire Chief Mike Winter said.

An object inside the building had caught fire, and the building’s sprinkler system had the fire contained when the fire department arrived on scene, Winter said.

The Conway fire chief confirmed Wednesday afternoon that no one was injured.

Altogether, six fire trucks and 14 firefighters and engineers responded to the scene. The fire was completely out by 9:34 a.m., Winter said.

Other Business, Place of Worship

Fitchburg, MA – Fire sprinklers stop fire from spreading after pipe organ catches fire in church; No injuries reported

A sprinkler system and the hard work of firefighters and a very large fan spared much of a Fitchburg church Monday afternoon when an electrical issue in a pipe organ sparked a fire, according to firefighters.

Deputy Chief Chad Courtemanche said crews were called to the Emanuel Lutheran Church a little after 3 p.m., on an alarm call after the alarm system detected sprinkler flow.

Crews arrived to find heavy smoke in the building and soon learned the fire in the pipe organ was being held in check by sprinklers, Courtemanche said.

As a result of the sprinklers, “the fire was burning slow and creating a lot of smoke, so we vented the smoke and put out the fire,” Courtemanche said.

There were no reported injuries.

Crews used a large, truck-mounted ventilation fan designed for large buildings to vent a large amount of smoke from the church. Courtemanche said damage appeared to be light, under the circumstances, with fire damage confined mostly to the organ, and mostly just smoke and water damage elsewhere.

He said much of the wooden church, and even some books not far from the blaze, appeared to have suffered minimal damage.

Pastor Daniel W. Spigelmyer Jr., said the pipe organ is about 150 years old, and is a major sentimental and historical loss for the church.

Crews remained at the scene for about two hours.

Office Building, Other Business

Cincinnati, OH – High rise fire in eighth floor office contained by fire sprinklers

A fire in the U.S. Bank Tower in Downtown Cincinnati caused $100,000-worth of damage Wednesday night.

Some 48 Cincinnati firefighters responded to the tower at 425 Walnut St. after a fire alarm went off shortly before 10 p.m., the department said in a press release.

The first fire companies to arrive asked dispatch to send a full high-rise complement of firefighters after determining that the alarm was sounding on the eighth floor and that smoke was visible there, the release said.

Firefighters subsequently discovered a small fire in one office that was mostly contained by the sprinkler system.

“The remaining fire was extinguished with a water can,” the release said.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.

Operating smoke detectors were in place.

The release said there was fire damage to the office, smoke damage to the eighth and ninth floors, minor water damage to the seventh floor and heavy water damage to the eighth floor.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Scott, LA – Fire from bin of linens at laundry facility kept in check thanks to fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

The Scott Fire Department responded to a on fire Thursday, July 23, at Westport Linen Services in Lafayette Parish.

Firefighters say they responded around 11:01 pm to the facility located at 103 North Ambassador Caffery Parkway and observed smoke coming from the building.

After entering, the fire was located in an area of the facility where linens are dried. The fire was quickly brought under control, they say.

An investigation determined that the fire started when laundered linens placed into a large bin generated enough heat to ignite the contents of the bin. The fire quickly spread to two nearby bins and activated the sprinkler system.

SFD says that the building sustained a small amount of heat and smoke damage as a result of the fire.

Both Westport Linen Services and the nearby Epic Entertainment facility sustained moderate water damage due to sprinkler activation.

The Scott Fire Department responded to a on fire Thursday, July 23, at Westport Linen Services in Lafayette Parish.

Firefighters say they responded around 11:01 pm to the facility located at 103 North Ambassador Caffery Parkway and observed smoke coming from the building.

After entering, the fire was located in an area of the facility where linens are dried. The fire was quickly brought under control, they say.

An investigation determined that the fire started when laundered linens placed into a large bin generated enough heat to ignite the contents of the bin. The fire quickly spread to two nearby bins and activated the sprinkler system.

SFD says that the building sustained a small amount of heat and smoke damage as a result of the fire.

Both Westport Linen Services and the nearby Epic Entertainment facility sustained moderate water damage due to sprinkler activation.

No one was injured in the incident which was determined to be accidental in nature.

Firefighters from Carencro, Duson, and Lafayette responded to assist.