“Fire crews responded to a fire alarm at 150 E. 1st Ave. with reports of flames,” said a tweet from Salt Lake City Fire Department at 8 p.m. “Upon arrival sprinkler activation had extinguished an oil fire on a cooking range.”
No one was injured as a result of the fire.
“Crews are assisting in shutting off the sprinkler and will be clearing shortly,” the tweet said.
Firefighters say a small kitchen fire in the apartment had been put out by an activated sprinkler system. Crews shut off the sprinkler, ventilated the apartment, and then used vacuums and squeegees to remove the excess water.
One apartment resident was transported by Mayo Clinic Ambulance for evaluation and treatment. The Rochester Fire Department says the cause of the fire is not know but there was flame damage to the kitchen, water damage to the apartment and adjacent hallway, and smoke damage throughout the apartment.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Upon arrival, firefighters found light gray smoke coming from unit two of the residence.
Crews entered the structure and found a fire sprinkler spraying water onto a stove fire.
Crews extinguished the fire and shut the water to the unit. The Salvation Army was contacted to assist a mother and child with relocation efforts. No injuries were reported.
Fire Chief Roger Audette said the quick response from city firefighters — and an operational sprinkler and alarm system — subdued a potentially dangerous fire downtown on Monday.
The fire at 227 Water St. was reported by an alarm around 4:40 p.m. Monday. Firefighters closed down a portion of Water Street until about 5:45 p.m.
There was heavy smoke on the third floor, Audette said, but it was not visible from the street.
He said the fire started in a third-floor apartment’s closet after rags, coated with a combination of wood stain and polyurethane used to finish hardwood flooring, “spontaneously combusted” because they were not disposed of properly.
Audette said the fire was not suspicious.
“It was in a bad spot,” he said. “It could have gone up into the attic, (where it would have been more difficult to fight).”
Audette said a sprinkler head in the closet kept the fire down until crews could extinguish it completely. He said there was “quite a bit of damage” to the building, as well as water damage to some electrical systems.
No one was hurt in the fire.
The building, which contains Guerrette Properties and other businesses, is owned by Smithtown Four LLC, according to city tax records. Representatives from Guerrette Properties did not return a request for comment by presstime.
Crews from Gardiner, Chelsea and Hallowell offered station coverage while Augusta crews were on the scene.
Code Enforcement Officer Keegan Ballard said the city uses the National Fire Protection Agency Life Safety Code, as recommended by the state fire marshal’s office. He said the code does not require sprinklers in buildings explicitly. Ballard said fire protection standards for buildings are done on a case-by-case basis.
“New mixed-use occupancies are required to have a sprinkler or fire separation,” he said. “It really depends on the use (of the building) or if the floors above are utilized.”
Ballard said the city relies on separation between residential buildings to mitigate the risk of large fires engulfing multiple structures. In a downtown area where buildings are connected, he said, fire safety protocols are much more important.
“It’s absolutely very important,” Ballard said of using the standards. “In a downtown where there’s no separation, it’s crucial … to buying time for emergency services to get there.”
On June 1, 2019 at approximately 21:18 hours, Investigators from Fort Bend County Fire Marshal’s Office responded to an apartment fire located at 16731 Beechnut St. Houston TX 77083 (Greens at Brentford Apartments). Community Fire Department requested investigators from the Fort Bend County Fire Marshal’s Office respond. Upon arrival, investigators found that a small cooking fire had occurred in an apartment. One sprinkler head activated and extinguished the fire. The affected apartment had minor damage. No damage was reported to any other living units. No injuries were reported.
Orange Fire Department was dispatched to a fire at approximately 2 a.m. Sunday at the Velma Jeter Apartments, in the 5700 block of Velma Jeter Drive in Orange.
According to residents at the scene, they were awakened by the sounding fire alarm going off from the blaze.
Several residents noticed the fire in the apartment and quickly grabbed nearby fire extinguishers to extinguish the blaze.
One man broke the glass to retrieve an extinguisher stored in the complex’s sidewalk, kicked in the apartment door and extinguished the fire. The man had to be treated on the scene by fire responders due to smoke inhalations after he collapsed from going inside the burning unit.
He did not require transport to a hospital.
When firefighters arrived, the fire was mostly out with heavy smoke coming from the unit. They did spend some time verifying the fire was out and that the damage was limited to the single unit.
The occupant of the apartment was not home at the time, and according to neighbors, the resident was seen moving out earlier in the day.
The fire could have been much worse had the sprinkler system not done its job and the residents had not teamed up and worked together according to firefighters.
Nine portable fire extinguishers were used by the neighbors before the fire department arrived.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the City of Orange Fire Marshal.
Firefighters were called to the 200 block of 14th Street Northwest just after 2 a.m. Tuesday, June 4. When they got on scene, they found a dryer on fire on the fourth floor of the building.
Crews credit the sprinkler system for keeping the fire contained to just the dryer.
“One of the lessons of an incident like this is just how important it is to have a working sprinkler system and alarm system,” Charlottesville Fire Chief Andrew Baxter said. “That sprinkler system saved lives tonight, there’s no question about it.”
No one was inside the apartment at the time of the fire.
Baxter says people living inside two apartments have temporarily been displaced due to smoke and water damage throughout the building.
On Friday around 11 p.m., a fire broke out in the NorthPoint Men’s building.
Witnesses said a remote control car battery ignited in an apartment, prompting residents to call 911. The Madison Fire Department and Rexburg Police Department rushed to the scene.
“My roommate bought a charger for an RC car, and I guess that one of them blew up,” said James Raney, a junior studying communication. “I guess there was a flame in his room. I opened the door and I just saw smoke everywhere.”
Witnesses said flames reached the ceiling.
“The battery caught on fire,” said Logan Wright, a freshman studying mechanical engineering. “We were outside and the water (from the fire sprinkler system) would not stop. I was sitting on the couch and I could hear the thing burning, it sounded like the space shuttle. The flame was up to the ceiling.”
Wright called the 911 to report the fire before evacuating.
“We were dispatched here for smoke in a room,” said Ben Williams, a firefighter for the Madison Fire Department.
Firefighters said they extinguished the fire before it spread. The building was evacuated and no injuries were reported.
Crowds gathered outside questioning why the alarms had gone off. Some guessed it was the result of burnt food, as has happened earlier in the semester.
“This is the third time that this has happened this semester,” claims Jared Davey, a sophomore studying psychology. “The last few time it was because someone actually burned their food and…(had to) air out their apartment.”
Car 91 (Shift Commander), Car 93 (Code Enforcement) and Engine 1 were dispatched from Central Fire Station and Engine 6 from South Station. Upon arrival firefighters encountered a kitchen fire in a first floor apartment that was mostly extinguished by the sprinkler system.
Firefighters extinguished the remaining fire, made sure it did not extend beyond the apartment of origin, and secured the sprinkler system keeping the damage to a minimum.
The five occupants were alerted of the fire from the alarm system and quickly evacuated.
“It appears the fire was due to unattended cooking,” said Middleborough Fire Chief Lance Benjamino. The alarm system and the sprinkler system did their job and the firefighters did a tremendous job at controlling this fire and the damag.”
Cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries, the chief added, and offered a few cooking safety tips.
