Sprinklers at a Vancouver apartment complex limited the fire damage from a Tuesday morning blaze to a single unit, fire officials said. Firefighters were called to Redwood Acres apartments, 3409 N.E. 62nd Ave. in Vancouver’s Bagley Downs neighborhood, about 5:15 a.m., Vancouver firefighter Pete Adams said. Arriving crews reported a working fire coming from the third floor and that all of the occupants had evacuated, Adams said.
The sprinklers kept the fire from spreading, and arriving crews doused the flames, bringing it under control in about 20 minutes, Adams said. There were no injuries. The unit affected was heavily damaged by fire, adjacent units sustained smoke damage and the units below sustained some water damage, Adams said. Vancouver Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli said that the total damage is estimated at $60,000.
The two people who lived in the fire-damaged unit were displaced, Adams said, but apartment management was making plans to house them in a different unit. Scarpelli said the fire was caused by an unattended candle left in the bedroom near the head of the bed.
“The important note here is that a lit candle is an open flame, it’s definitely a fire hazard,” Scarpelli said. “This was definitely a preventable fire. … It was fortunate that the apartment complex had a sprinkler system that was completely operational and functioned the way it was designed.”
Though tenants had to wait outside for a bit as firefighters did their work, nobody was hurt and nobody displaced after a drier caught fire in a 12-story high rise on Strawberry Hill Avenue late Friday night. The fire department got the call for a fire at the Carlton Plaza apartment building, situated roughly between the Stamford Police Department headquarters and Stamford High School as the crow flies, shortly before 10:30 p.m.
Fire Capt. Michael Terenzio said that the fire started in or near a drier on the third floor. It is as yet unclear whether a malfunction in the drier started the fire, and the fire marshal is still investigating. “The third floor was evacuated, no one lost use of their apartments, everyone did react to the fire alarm system and it looks like the damage was confined to the object that was on fire, except for, obviously, smoke damage,” said Terenzio. “Everyone was probably out for an hour or so.”
After that, the 120 tenants were able to go back to their units. The captain said the building’s sprinkler system worked as it should and helped keep the fire at bay until firefighters were able to bring up a hose. As a precaution, firefighters recommend regularly cleaning highly flammable drier lint out of traps and ducts.
Fire sprinklers on the patio of an apartment at Santa Fe Plaza, a housing complex on North Third Street in Porterville, prevented a fire from spreading Friday afternoon. “This is one of the places we’re always concerned about because of the number of residents,” said City Fire Battalion Chief Glen Hall.
The fire began on the patio of a first-floor apartment, but was contained by the overhead sprinklers. “The fire was held in check by the sprinkler system,” said Hall, adding that it appeared to be contained to a box on the patio and the structure was not burned at all. Also, the sprinkler only activated on the patio, so there was no water damage to the apartment or any other part of the complex.
However, smoke filled the first floor of the north wing of the complex and the alarm sent more than a dozen residents outside. “I saw smoke billowing … and I grabbed my cat and split,” said resident Sharon Ritchie, who stood outside with several other residents as firefighters inspected the building and worked to clear the smoke.
“I heard the alarm go off and the hallway was full of smoke,” added Norma Fox who lives jus a few doors down from where the fire stated. The fire was reported at about 1:50 p.m. and the city had a full response with five engines, including a ladder truck, and one engine from the county. More than a dozen firefighters were joined by two Porterville police officers who assisted residents out of the smoke-filled complex. One lady in a motorized chair waited outside until a firefighter brought her dog to her. Seeing her dog brought a big smile to her face.
Medical personnel were called to the scene to check out the residents, but no one was injured or sickened by the smoke. One lady said she was winded after walking down three flights of stairs. Hall said the fire was still smoldering when firefighters arrived and they extinguished it at that time. He said there are 105 apartments in the complex, but only the north wing was affected by the fire.
The residents, including the one who lived in the apartment where the fire occurred, were allowed to return to their apartments after about 45 minutes outside. The cause of the fire is under investigation
Reporting on lives and property saved by fire sprinklers
