Category Archives: Apartment Building

Apartment Building, Residential

Manchester, NH – Fire in closet of third floor apartment extinguished by sprinkler system

A closet fire at 84 Karatzas Avenue activated sprinklers that contained the fire to a closet.  The fire was reported at 8:48 p.m. Fire crews arrived to find a water flow from the third floor f a 100-by-400 garden-style apartment.  Engine 10 located an extinguished fire in a closet of apartment 310. The sprinkler system had been activated in the closet and had extinguished the fire. There was substantial water damage to apartments 310, 210, and 110. No one was displaced, as everyone affected by the water damage indicated they had a place to stay.  The cause of the fire is undetermined and remains under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Rockford, IL – Sprinkler system activates to help control apartment fire; No injuries

Rockford fire crews rushed to an apartment Sunday afternoon and rescued a man who was forced out onto his balcony by the smoke.  The Rockford Fire Department responded at approximately 2 p.m. to an apartment complex on Trilling Avenue, near N. Main Street and Riverside Boulevard.  The second floor sprinkler system activated in response to a fire. The resident ran out to the balcony where firemen helped him to safety. There were no injuries. The damage is estimated at $10,000.

Apartment Building

Perrysburg, OH – Sprinkler system helps contain apartment fire caused by lightning strike

A fire broke out at a Perrysburg Township apartment complex Thursday after lightning may have struck the building, firefighters said.  Area firefighters responded to Tracy Creek Apartments, 29181 Tracy Rd., at 8:40 a.m. Thursday.  Residents reported hearing a loud boom. Fire officials said they believe the blaze may have been caused by a lightning strike.  The fire appeared to be contained in the top floor of buildings 29227 and 29233 — a total of four apartments, said Perrysburg Fire Chief Rudy Ruiz.  The fire triggered a sprinkler system, he said.  Four families will be displaced because of the damage, Chief Ruiz said.  No injuries were reported, and no damage estimates were immediately available. The Red Cross was contacted to assist the families. <Blog Note: Smoke does not cause a residential sprinkler system to activate – Only the substantial heat from a fire>

Apartment Building, Residential

San Antonio, TX – Arson fire at apartment extinguished by sprinkler system

Bexar County fire investigators have arrested a woman for allegedly setting fire to an apartment from which she was being evicted. An arrest warrant affidavit said a neighbor called 911 early Monday morning after noticing water pouring into her home from the apartment upstairs. She also heard fire alarms going off inside her own home. Firefighters arrived a short time later and saw hazy smoke inside that upstairs apartment, located in the 5500 block of Missions Bluffs. Once they entered the unit, they determined that the fire had been extinguished by the sprinkler system. The affidavit said arson investigators later found evidence that someone had intentionally set fire to mattresses in two different bedrooms. It said they also determined that Immanie Rogers, 23, lived alone inside that apartment and was facing eviction. They found her eviction notice on top of one the mattresses that had been set on fire, the affidavit said. Investigators said they obtained surveillance video showing Rogers’ car leaving the property shortly before the fire broke out. She was arrested Tuesday on a charge of arson.

Apartment Building, Residential

Shawnee, OK – Fifth floor apartment fire put out with help from sprinkler system

An overnight emergency shelter was being set up late Friday night for half of the residents who live at Shawnee Towers at 1130 E. Independence, where a fifth floor fire was reported Friday evening.

What began as a fire alarm and evacuation of residents turned into more for those living on the north end, where water from the sprinkler system impacted every unit on that end of the complex.

One resident, who was outside waiting with her dog, Charlie, said she quickly evacuated and didn’t see any smoke until she was outside.

“When the alarm went off, I grabbed my phone, my wallet and my dog,” she said.

Whiles crews had the fire out quickly in that fifth floor unit, it was the water from the sprinkler system that prompted the decision to evacuate residents overnight.

Deputy Shawnee Fire Chief Andy Starkey said they were going to have to evacuate the entire north end “due to electrical hazards because of the water.”

Starkey, who said they were calling in the Red Cross to assist in getting that shelter set up for residents late Friday night, said they expected the overnight evacuation to involve 40 to 50 residents.

Residents on the south end were not impacted by the fire.

Cause of the fire was still undetermined late Friday night, he added.

The complex is part of the Shawnee Housing Authority.

Apartment Building, Residential

Bridgeton, NJ – Sprinkler system knocks down fire on 10th floor of city housing complex

A propane tank explosion and fire last weekend on the 10th floor of a city housing authority complex forced the evacuation of residents, authorities said Friday.  Battalion Chief Kevin Scarlato said firefighters responded at 6:34 p.m. Saturday to 110 East Commerce St. A fire broke out after the explosion, with visible smoke coming from the building. A second alarm was called, with the Gouldtown, Cedarville and Millville fire departments responding to assist, he said.  Scarlato said the building’s fire-suppression sprinkler system activated, knocking down much of the fire. Firefighters then evacuated residents.

Three apartments on the 10th floor were damaged. No cost estimate of the damage was given.  Scarlato said crews were on the scene until 11:23 p.m. All residents were allowed back into their homes, except those in the affected rooms. No injuries were reported and the cause of the explosion and fire is under investigation by the city fire inspector.

Apartment Building, Residential

Grand Forks, ND – Two dogs rescued after sprinkler contains apartment fire; No injuries reported

Two dogs were rescued from an apartment fire in Grand Forks Monday evening.  The fire department says shortly after 5:15 p.m., fire crews were sent to the 4340 Pioneer Drive on a report of a fire alarm and smoke coming from a first floor apartment.  Firefighters entered that apartment unit and encounter heavy black smoke and found a fire on top of the stove area. A sprinkler head helped contain the fire.  No people were home but crews did rescue two dogs.

The fire unit and surrounding units sustained heavy smoke and water damage.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Decatur, IL – Laundry fire in converted apartment and business is put out by sprinkler system

Fire caused an estimated $30,000 in damage to the building and contents at 240 S. 22nd Street early Tuesday.  No one was found inside the building, a former fire station that had been converted to a business and apartment, the fire department said in a statement. The department was dispatched at 12:38 a.m. and arrived six minutes later.  Decatur police officers were on scene first and forced the front door to search the first floor. When firefighters arrived, they saw heavy fire showing from the second-floor windows. They fought the fire and searched the second floor.  The department said the fire started in a second-floor laundry area and was caused by a clothes dryer. The fire was controlled by 1:17 a.m. While responding to the incident on 22nd Street, firefighters also were sent to a second fire at 1145 W. Arbor. They found that a sprinkler system had already put out a fire in the facility’s kitchen, so that building suffered minimal damage, the department said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Elk Grove, IL – No injuries after sprinklers extinguish apartment kitchen fire

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Two apartments were left temporarily uninhabitable after a kitchen fire activated sprinklers in a second floor unit of a building in the 900 block of Charlela Lane, Elk Grove Village, Saturday (April 14) evening.  Red Cross representatives responding to the scene arranged housing for six people from two households on the first and second floors of the building. Elk Grove Village Fire Chief Richard Mikel said no injuries were reported.  Mikel said a stovetop kitchen fire activated a sprinkler and alarm at 5:46 p.m. in a second story unit. Besides an automated alarm, Mikel said calls reporting the fire were also made to 911. The fire was immediately extinguished by the sprinkler system. Mikel said the second floor unit suffered smoke damage and water entered into electrical systems. The first floor apartment directly under the fire unit also suffered water damage from the sprinkler.