Category Archives: Apartment Building

Apartment Building, Residential

Chevy Chase, MD – Sprinkler system holds high rise apartment fire in check

Dozens of Montgomery County firefighters responded to the blaze at the Willard Apartments at 4701 Willard Avenue.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Spokesperson Pete Piringer said the fire originated on the 16th floor of the high rise building.

According to Piringer, hundreds of residents were evacuated and some residents with mobility issues had to be assisted out of the building by firefighters.

A sprinkler system held the fire in check until firefighters could put 14the blaze out, Piringer said.

The fire originated in the sunroom of a 16th floor apartment and damages are estimated at $25,000, according to Piringer. He said the fire was electrical in nature and the cause was related to an extension cord.

Two residents were transported to a local hospital for exposure to the fire and smoke. Their injuries are not life threatening, Piringer said.

According to Piringer, the fire has displaced six residents from their homes.

Apartment Building, Residential High Rise

Westboro, MA – Fire in trash chute of high rise apartment building controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries

Fountainhead Apartments residents who were displaced Friday night after sprinklers were set off by a fire in a trash chute will be allowed back into their units starting Saturday afternoon, according to management.

Danielle DeHart, regional property manager at the Fountainhead Apartments, said most of the displaced residents will be allowed back into their units, starting at 2 p.m. Saturday. “At 2 o’clock, we’ll start letting the building in slowly with the assistance of local police,” Ms. DeHart said.

Ms. DeHart said “well over 200 residents” from about 170 apartments were affected. She said the Fountainhead is asking the tenants of 11 units to allow additional drying time. “We were very fortunate that nobody was hurt and everybody responded very quickly from the management team and also the local police and fire personnel,” Ms. DeHart said. “It was the smoke, of course, that triggered that the sprinkler system. It wasn’t the fire itself.”

Ms. DeHart said the lesson to learn here is to be conscientious about what you throw away. She said estimates on the damages is not available yet.  “Right now, our focus is on the residents and getting everybody where they need to be, certainly, cold January time, so that’s our priority No. 1, and then we’re worry about the building after that.”

Apartment Building, Residential

Grand Forks, ND – No injuries in New Year’s Eve apartment fire suppressed by sprinkler system

Residents of a Grand Forks apartment complex rang in the new year in the cold because a fire broke out inside a second floor unit on Garden View Drive shortly after 11:00. About two dozen people were inside at the time.  However, people living in the unit where the fire started were not home.

The fire was contained to the single unit, but several other units and the hallway sustained smoke and water damage. Everyone was allowed to return to their apartments last night except for the one where the fire started.

“The fire was pretty much extinguished by the sprinkler system, or at least contained by the sprinkler system, so there would have been minimal fire as I understand it by the fire crews that responded,” Grand Forks Fire Capt. Bob Kramer said. The fire marshall said the fire is accidental because of unattended cooking on the stove.

Apartment Building, Residential

Encinitas, CA – Sprinkler system contains early morning apartment fire to room of origin; No injuries reported

The spread of a fire that broke out Thursday morning in an Encinitas apartment building was stopped by a fire sprinkler system, a city fire official said. A fire alarm was triggered just after 5 a.m. as the apartment’s sprinkler system was activated, alerting the Encinitas Fire Department to respond to the building in the 3000 block of Manchester Avenue in Cardiff, according to Senior Deputy Fire Marshal Kerri Berberet.

“The resident smelled smoke and attempted to extinguish a fire caused by a candle,” Berberet said. “During the process, a single fire sprinkler activated due to the heat produced by the fire.” Two engine crews were dispatched to the scene.  “The fire was out upon arrival of the initial fire crew; a second unit was requested for assistance,” Berberet said.

No injuries were reported, and other residents and apartments were unscathed. “With the activation of the fire sprinkler system and quick response by firefighters, the fire was contained to the room of origin,” she said.

Berberet pointed out that according to statistics from the National Fire Protection Association, half of home fire deaths result from fires reported between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., when most people are asleep. Having a working smoke alarm cuts the chances of dying in a reported fire in half, while an automatic fire sprinkler system cuts the risk of dying by about 80 percent, according to the association.

Apartment Building, Residential

Lakewood, NJ – Dryer fire in apartment building extinguished by sprinkler system

A dryer fire and subsequent sprinkler activation in a Lakewood apartment was cause for several families being displaced. At approximately 11 PM, residents woke up to their smoke alarm sounding, and found smoke billowing from their dryer.  The resident immediately called the Fire Department, and then opened the door to the dryer to try grabbing some of burning clothing articles to place them into a bathtub, but burned his hand in the process, officials confirm.

By this time, the apartment’s sprinkler system was activated, and extinguished the fire, but not before soaking the residence, and the apartments beneath, officials say. The fire department arrived, and ventilated the apartment.  The families from at least three apartments were displaced, sources told TLS.  The resident was treated at the scene by Lakewood First Aid.

Ocean County Fire Marshals determined the dryer was caused by being overloaded with clothing, officials say.

Apartment Building, Residential

Peachtree Corners, GA – Apartment bedroom fire snuffed out by sprinkler system

Gwinnett County firefighters responded to a fire in Peachtree Corners Tuesday morning. At 11:39 a.m., firefighters responded to a report of a fire alarm going off at an apartment on the 1200 block of Ivey Park Lane in Peachtree Corners. The crews found a sprinkler had put out a fire on a bed in a second floor unit at the complex. Rutledge said no one was home when the fire occurred, and investigators have not been able to determine what caused it.

Apartment Building, Residential

Derby, CT – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in containing apartment building fire; No injuries

There were no injuries reported after a fire in a laundry room on Fourth Street Wednesday. The fire was reported at about 3:20 p.m. within a three-story apartment building at 16 Fourth St. near the Derby Green.

The building’s alarm sounded and about eight people in the building immediately left. The cause and precise origin is under investigation by Derby Fire Marshal Phil Hawks.

The fire started in the building’s laundry room in the basement. Damage was limited to that room, said David Lenart, an assistant Derby fire chief. The building’s sprinkler system and the arriving firefighters kept the flames from spreading.

The building underwent a complete renovation within the last few years. Shelton firefighters responded to the call as well. As of 3:52 p.m., firefighters were carrying in large fans to vent the smoke from the apartment house.

Apartment Building, Residential

Lincoln, NE – Kitchen fire in downtown loft apartments controlled with help from sprinklers; No injuries

At least one person was displaced Thursday after a small fire at a building on 8th and Q in downtown Lincoln. According to Lincoln Fire & Rescue, the fire started in the kitchen of a loft on the third floor of Arena Lofts.

“In the initial phases we were sent here on a regular box alarm with one engine one truck,” said Capt. Lloyd Mueller, acting Batallion Chief. “We identified that they did have smoke conditions stating that there was a fire in one of the apartments we’ve upgraded the alarms to a second alarm due to the occupancy and the people that are living up above.”

LFR found it was a small fire that started in the kitchen. It is still under investigation whether it was the stove top or a kitchen appliance. “Right now we have a lot of water damage just through the sprinkler system activation,” said Mueller. “So the fire was great enough it did…signal the sprinklers to activate.”

According to LFR, there was nobody in the apartment where the fire started. “A lot of the residents are not around so we’re still trying to get a hold of them and let them know,” said Mueller. Mueller said there was one resident who was displaced. “This is a brand new apartment building so they’re being renovated,” he said.

According to one of the employees with the clean up crew, water damage affected about six apartments and a cigar shop below. Most of the water damage was from the sprinklers.

“We put a very small amount of water on the fire itself due to the sprinklers activation,” said Mueller, “…the water damage is just shutting down the system…getting the water to drain out of the pipes and getting it to not go into the building but outside the building.”

Mueller said the Red Cross and the Chaplain were called out to help those who were displaced.

 

There was no damage to the Twin Peaks restaurant below.

 

Mueller said they had a few animals they protected and put in a safe room in the apartments.

Apartment Building, Residential

Yakima, WA – Sprinklers limit fire damage at YWCA; residents and staff safely evacuated

A small child playing with a lighter started a fire that set off the sprinkler system at the Yakima YWCA late this morning, Yakima firefighters said.

The fire was quickly extinguished, but the resulting flood of water damaged Christmas presents in a basement storage room, YWCA executive director Amy Flynn said.

The residents of the affected apartment — a woman and two children — and other residents and staff in the building were safely evacuated, Flynn said.

A mix of apartments and shelter lodging at the building, 818 W. Yakima Ave., holds a total of 30 women and 55 children.

“I’m just very thankful that everyone is OK,” she said.

Capt. Jeff Pfaff of the Yakima Fire Department said crews responded about 11:45 a.m. to an automatic alarm triggered by the sprinkler system.

Pfaff said the sprinklers limited the fire damage within the one apartment.

He estimated that 2,000 gallons of water was released before the system could be shut down.

Apartment Building, Residential

Victoria, BC, Canada – Apartment cooking fire doused by sprinkler system

A Victoria apartment suite is heavily water damaged after a sprinkler system doused a stove-top oil fire and then drowned the rest of the room.  Alarm bells sounded at 9:30 Sunday evening at 710 Queens Avenue when an oil fire ignited, according to Victoria Fire Battalion Chief Dave Bicknell.   The lone occupant of the suite had been cooking french fries in oil on the stovetop at the time of the fire.  

“The fire was likely caused by overheating of the oil,” Bicknell said, in his report.  The sprinkler system extinguished the kitchen fire but continued to flow until fire crews were able to shut it down.  “There was some damage to the suite caused by smoke and heat, however the fire itself had been contained to the pot,” Bicknell said. The building on the corner of Douglas Street is run by the Victoria Cool Aid Society