Category Archives: Apartment Building

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise

Columbia, MO – Single sprinkler activates to control fire in apartments for seniors and disabled

Officials said unattended cooking was the cause of a Thursday fire in an apartment at Paquin Tower, 1201 Paquin St., according to a Columbia Fire Department news release. A fire department crew was dispatched at 9:39 p.m. to the apartment building, where water was spotted coming from under an apartment door.

According to the news release, one sprinkler head brought the fire under control and 84 percent of residential fires are contained by one sprinkler head. The crew remained on the scene to clean up the water in the apartment and in the hallway.

 

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Shreveport, LA – High-rise apartment blaze knocked down by sprinkler system

Firefighters were called to the high-rise Fairmont Apartments building in downtown Shreveport just before 7:00 Monday evening. Fire officials say the fire appeared to have started in the kitchen of a third floor apartment. Fortunately, the sprinkler system had mostly knocked out the fire before firefighters arrived.

“The sprinkler system did what it was supposed to do, save the owners of the building money, reduce the damage and minimize injuries to the occupants. So, the sprinkler system was effective in doing its job,” says Shreveport Fire Chief Fred Sanders. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Meriden, CT – Overnight apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Firefighters responded to a stove fire in a room at The Infinity apartment complex on Bee Street.  Shortly before 11:30 p.m., crews were dispatched to The Infinity, 390 Bee St. Upon arrival, it was determined the fire had already been put out. The sprinkler system was triggered, according to the fire department. Fire Marshal Steve Trella was on scene investigating the incident. There was damage above the stove, as well as minor water damage to the apartment and the room below.

Apartment Building, Residential

Yakima, WA – Sprinklers credited with saving lives and property from fire at apartment building

The Yakima Fire Department says a small fire at an apartment unit Tuesday night has displaced about 20 people. 

The fire started after someone in a third floor apartment unit on the 800 block of East D Street left a pan of oil unattended on the stove around 6 p.m.

Firefighters also say although the water damage was significant, the fire sprinkler system was instrumental in saving lives and further property damage from an extensive fire. 

Having the sprinklers activate saved the building from severe structural damage from the fire.  Water is usually easier and quicker to clean than rebuilding from fire damage. 

Also water is less hazardous to the occupants than smoke and fire. Without the activation of the fire sprinkler system, the lives of the people in all 18 units could have been affected. 

Apartment Building, Residential

Red Wing, MN – Apartment fire on seventh floor extinguished by sprinkler system

Jordan Towers 1 in Red Wing was damaged early Sunday afternoon by a fire, and water that put it out.

The Red Wing Fire Department said the fire alarm was reported at 12:48 p.m. When firefighters arrived two minutes later, they learned the fire was on the seventh floor. The found a stove fire that had gone into a wall had been put out by the sprinkler system.

Fire damage was minimal but water has to be removed from several floors. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

 

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Franklin, OH – Fire at low-income senior apartment building extinguished by sprinkler system

Emergency crews were summoned to Meadow Crossing, 825 Central Ave. for a possible fire about 12:40 p.m. requiring the evacuation of residents from the building’s second floor, according to the Warren County Communications Center. a senior apartment building in Carlisle for a reported fire.

“It sounded a lot worse that it really was,” said Carlisle Fire Chief Krista Wyatt. “The sprinklers did their job.” The fire had been put out and firefighters worked to clear the building of smoke and look for any extensions of the fire.

Wyatt said the side laminate veneer of the bathroom’s vanity created enough heat to set off the fire sprinklers. She said two to three apartments received some smoke or water damage in addition to the bathroom’s vanity.

There are 36 one-bedroom apartments for elderly residents who earn 50 percent or below the regional median income. The building is owned by Warren County Community Services and it received a score of 97 out of 100 on its 2014 inspection by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Apartment Building, Residential

Wilmington, NC – Sprinkler activates to confine kitchen apartment fire; No injuries

The Wilmington Fire Department responded to a fire at 11:18 p.m. at 505 Cobblestone Drive, Apartment 206. The department release states that the fire started on a stove after cooking was left unattended. Crews activated the building’s sprinkler system and confined the fire to the stove top. Damage was estimated at $5,000 and no one was injured, the release states.

Apartment Building, Other - School / University, Residential

State College, PA – Late night fire at off-campus student apartments halted by sprinkler system

Some local college students narrowly avoided a disaster when their apartment building almost went up in flames.  A blaze broke out just after 11:30 Wednesday night in building Q at the Lion’s crossing apartments on Viaro Boulevard in State College.

Officials tell us a resident was heating oil on the stove when it caught fire and he then tried to extinguish it by throwing water on it. Crews are crediting the sprinkler system for activating and stopping the fire from spreading.

Shawn Kauffman, Assistant Alpha Fire Company Chief said, “In these types of residential buildings, the apartments are occupied by students and if there hadn’t been sprinklers it would have devastated their finals week.”

All residents were evacuated while the crews were on scene and they were allowed to return about 40 minutes after the fire broke out.

Apartment Building, Residential

Harrisburg, PA – Single sprinkler keeps apartment fire from spreading

A single fire sprinkler kept a kitchen blaze from spreading through a Harrisburg apartment complex on Monday night, city fire Chief Brian Enterline said. Crews responded to a building fire call in the 200 block of Mary Street at about 5:08 p.m. and found smoke pouring from a second-floor apartment.

However, firefighters found that a fire sprinkler head, which activates when the temperature reaches 155 degrees, quickly extinguished the blaze and stopped it from spreading to adjoining apartments, Enterline said. No one was injured, and Enterline credited the sprinkler for preventing what he called “catastrophic consequences.”

Firefighters used a ventilation fan and a wet/dry vacuum to help clean up the damage. Two apartments took on water damage and apartment management is assisting residents displaced by the fire. Affected residents should be able to return to their apartments by the end of the week, Enterline said.

“This fire could have had catastrophic consequences to both lives and property had it not been for the fast work of a single operating fire sprinkler head, which quickly contained and extinguished the fire,” Enterline said. “Firefighters were able to literally fight this fire with a fan and mop bucket.”

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise

Hibbing, MN – Single sprinkler contains early morning fire at senior high rise apartment building

A fire at Hibbing’s Androy Building Sunday morning drew a full response from the Hibbing and neighboring fire departments. But when they arrived, they found the fire had already been contained by a single sprinkler head.

The Androy Building houses senior high-rise apartments, an Elks Club banquet center and an orthodontics clinic. According to the Hibbing Fire Department, firefighters arrived shortly before 6 a.m. when an automatic fire alarm was triggered. The found smoke coming from a vent near the kitchen of the Elks Club and tenants starting to to evacuate the building.

Inside, crews found smoke in the Elks side of the building but the fire down to a smolder. Crews put out the remaining smoldering material and ventilated the smoke from the banquet room. By 7:10 a.m., it was deemed safe enough to allow tenants back in.

Hibbing Fire Marshal Bryan Fagerstrom determined the case was accidental — a steam table had been left on which overheated and ignited the wood buffet table. He stressed the importance of having a properly maintained sprinkler system. “The sprinkler system in this fire was serviced and maintained per code and did exactly as it should by containing the fire and keeping it from spreading,” he said in the release.