Category Archives: Apartment Building

Apartment Building, Residential

Rockford, IL – Electrical fire at apartment complex limited by sprinkler system

An electrical fire damaged a Northwest Rockford apartment complex.  It started shortly after 4pm Thursday afternoon at the Riverside Apartments in the 3700 block of Trilling Avenue.

Investigators say that an electrical problem sparked a mattress that set fire in a lower level unit. According to the District Chief the apartment had a working sprinkler system that kept the fire from spreading. No one was hurt but one person has been displaced.

Apartment Building, Residential

DeKalb, IL – Sprinkler system keeps flames from spreading in apartment fire

The DeKalb Fire Department responded to an apartment fire at 832 Ridge Drive in DeKalb at 11:09 a.m. Saturday. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, said Jeff McMaster, deputy fire chief, later that afternoon.

“When firefighters got there, there was a light smoke coming from the bathroom,” McMaster said. “When they got in, the sprinklers were on.” The sprinkler system had kept the flames contained and the firefighters were able to put the rest out upon arrival, McMaster said.

No one was home at the time, McMaster said. A neighbor had seen the smoke, heard the apartment’s fire alarm and made the call. There were no injuries, McMaster said. He estimated the damage at about $5,000.

Apartment Building, Residential

Cookeville, TN – Sprinkler system assist firefighters in extinguishing apartment kitchen fire

1 Comment

On Wednesday, July 15 around 6:30, the Cookeville fire department responded to a kitchen fire at an apartment complex on West Broad Street. “We were on scene there for a little over an hour,” Capt. Blair said.

A working sprinkler system installed at the complex helped to contain the fire in the unit where it originated and prevented it from spreading to other units.

“That sprinkler system likely saved the apartment complex. It certainly helped contain the fire to the unit where it started, and it made it easier for us to extinguish the blaze after we arrived on the scene. Because of the sprinkler system, we had the fire out in no time,” Capt. Blair said.

“We can’t stress enough the importance of sprinkler systems in saving lives,” he said.  As a precaution, the department evacuated several buildings at the complex while fire fighters worked to put out the blaze.  A total of 19 fire fighters responded to that call.

Apartment Building, Residential

Tualatin, OR – Sprinkler system contains apartment fire to one unit

Seven people had to find a temporary place to stay Thursday after a fire broke out in a Sherwood apartment complex, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue reported.  Crews were sent to the 20000 block of S.W Roy Rogers Road just before 6 p.m. after receiving multiple calls about a fire in a third-floor unit. The building’s commercial sprinkler system was activated and stopped the fire from spreading.

Although the fire was contained to one unit, four units were considered uninhabitable because power had to be cut off, firefighters said.  The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Rapid City, SD – Apartment deck fire extinguished by sprinkler system

The Rapid City Fire Department is crediting an apartment complex’s sprinkler system with rapidly extinguishing a noon Sunday fire that could have spread to other parts of the building.  According to a release from the department, firefighters went to a fire on an apartment unit’s deck at 2871 Belgrade Blvd., Rapid City.

A single heat-activated sprinkler head put out the fire. There were no injuries, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.  In the release, Oliver White, the department’s spokesman, wrote: “Here we see a fire that easily could have spread into the building, but it didn’t.”

Apartment Building, Residential High Rise

Orange, CA – Overnight high-rise apartment fire suppressed by sprinklers; potential disaster averted

(Blog Note: Please let us know what you think of this journalist’s focus on water damage rather than the lives and property saved by the sprinkler system in this overnight, high-rise fire).   Orange police and fire officials responded around 12:15 a.m. to reports of a structure fire at the Community Garden Towers in the 4000 block of West Garden Grove Boulevard, and found smoke coming from the fourth floor, officials said.

Authorities found a mattress on fire on the floor and the flames activated the sprinkler system in the building. Authorities said the building was evacuated and electricity may have been briefly turned off, but residents were able to re-enter the building shortly after the fire was extinguished.

Orange police initially detained a man who lives in the unit where the fire started on suspicion that he may have intentionally started it, Deputy Fire Marshal Casey Fieldhouse said.

But he was later released and not arrested, police Sgt. Phil McMullin.  Three people were displaced due to the damage and were assisted by local Red Cross officials. Authorities did not initially release the cause of the fire or damage estimates.

Apartment Building, Residential

Hilton Head, SC – Port Royal apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Interior sprinklers extinguished a fire in a unit at Laurel Hill Apartments in Port Royal Saturday, likely preventing the fire from spreading, Beaufort Fire Chief Sammy Negron said.

However, damage from the fire, smoke and water forced the four apartment residents out of the unit. The local Red Cross is providing assistance.

At about 2:30 Saturday afternoon, firefighters from the Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department responded to a fire call at 1640 Ribaut Road, the Laurel Hill Apartments. Upon arrival, firefighters found the fire limited to one apartment unit.

“The building’s sprinkler system worked as it is supposed to and extinguished this fire before it had a chance go grow and spread,” Negron said. “Properly installed and maintained, these types of automated fire suppression systems save lives and property, and we saw that at this apartment fire.”  Also responding to the blaze were the Port Royal Police and Burton Fire District.

Apartment Building, Residential

Palo Alto, CA – Sprinkler system contains apartment fire started by teenager cooking hash oil

A teenager who police said was cooking hash oil in his Palo Alto apartment was arrested Thursday night after he started a fire that displaced several residents in the apartment complex.

The 17-year-old male, whose identity is not being released because he is a juvenile, was reportedly trying to make hash oil in the kitchen at around 8:40 p.m. Police said he was using the kitchen stove and liquid butane to make the liquid substance, a concentrated form of cannabis that can be smoked or ingested. The teenager briefly left the stove unattended and a fire started, triggering the building’s sprinkler system, police said.

The Palo Alto Fire Department received calls from several residents about the fire, but when police officers and firefighters arrived on scene they found that the fire had already been extinguished by the sprinkler system, according to police.

The fire damaged the kitchen but was otherwise contained, police said. Yet both the teenager’s apartment and two neighboring apartments sustained major water damage and were deemed uninhabitable for the night. American Red Cross workers helped the residents in the neighboring apartments obtain shelter for the night, police said.

In investigating the fire, police said they determined that once the fire was extinguished, the teen tossed the butane canisters down a nearby trash chute and tried to flush down the toilet a “substantial amount of marijuana.”

After paramedics treated him for a burn on his arm, the teenager was cited for one felony count of manufacturing hash oil and one misdemeanor count of destruction of evidence. He was released into the custody of a parent, police said.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the department’s 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.