Category Archives: Apartment Building

Apartment Building, Residential

Avon, CO – Apartment fire doused by sprinkler system; No injuries

A burning couch has left two units at the Tarnes at Beaver Creek uninhabitable. The blaze broke out at around 11:30 a.m. Sunday in a second-floor unit. According to the Eagle River Fire Protection District, the flames were for the most part doused when firefighters arrived thanks to the building’s automatic fire sprinkler system.

Firefighters say the unit where the fire started and the one directly below it were declared uninhabitable due to smoke and water damage. Nobody was injured.

The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office is working to figure out if criminal charges are warranted.

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Lancaster, OH – Sprinkler system helps contain overnight fire at senior apartment complex; No injuries

A 36-unit apartment complex had to be evacuated Sunday morning after a fire started on the second story of the three-story building. Lancaster firefighter Pete Anson says the call came in just after 1:00 a.m. Sunday at the Canal Place Senior Apartments. The fire department was notified after the smoke alarm and sprinkler systems were activated. Anson says crews arrived on scene in four minutes.

“We had a lot of elderly patients on the second and third floors,” he said. Residents in the complex were already trying to get out as smoke started to fill the second floor hallway. Because the elevator went out, it wasn’t easy for many wheelchair dependent tenants.

“On our way in we did encounter a female in the stairwell dragging her wheelchair down,” he said.

The firefighter says he and his team began getting people outside and, in some cases, literally carried those who couldn’t walk.

“It was difficult and challenging to get 30, 40 [people] out at one time,” he said. “But the guys last night worked really hard and were able to get everybody out.”

Anson says the fire started on the second floor. An apartment manager would not let 10TV cameras inside to see the damaged area, but Anson says a charred couch that now sits outside the building came from the room where it all started.

Cleanup crews were at the building Sunday trying to dry the water-soaked floors. Also, the America Red Cross Ohio Buckeye Region says three families were assisted and received immediate emergency lodging.

According to the building manager and firefighters, no one in the building was injured. Anson says the cause of the fire is under investigation. Fire Chief David Ward tells 10TV at last check the Canal Place Senior Apartments did meet fire code.

Apartment Building, Residential

Brighton, MI – Single sprinkler controls apartment fire; Smoke alarms had been removed

** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED **

On February 15, 2015, the Brighton Area Fire Department was dispatched to a reported audible fire alarm in an apartment building with water leaking through to an apartment below. 

When fire personnel arrived there were no signs of fire, only an external water flow alarm activating.  There was a light haze of smoke in the common corridor.  Fire personnel stretched a hand line to the second floor of the apartment building and forced open one apartment on the second floor finding a single residential sprinkler activated and a thick white haze of smoke/steam in the apartment.  There was no active fire.  Fire crews conducted a quick search of the single bedroom apartment and found a male victim unconscious in a bed. 

The victim was removed from the apartment and turned over to EMS for care.  The 30 y/o male was transported to the ER and treated for smoke inhalation and fully recovered from the event.

Further investigation found that a fire had occurred between an upholstered chair and a table in the living room that was caused by careless discard of smoking materials.  The fire was completely extinguished by a single sprinkler system.  Further examination of the apartment found that both smoke alarms located inside the bedroom and just outside the bedroom had been disabled and removed for the ceiling preventing an early warning to the lone resident.

The NFPA 13R sprinkler system in this building fulfilled its intended purpose in this building by suppressing the fire and maintained a tenable and livable condition even though the smoke alarms had been removed.

Apartment Building, Residential

Conroe, TX – Single sprinkler extinguishes apartment cooking fire (no media coverage)

*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE — FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED **

The City of Conroe Fire Department was notified of an apartment fire at 1200 S Frazier St. (Park At Piney Woods Apartments) at approximately 2:34 PM on December 8, 2015.

Conroe Firefighters arrived at approximately 2:40 PM and discovered that there had been a small fire in the kitchen of one of the apartment units which activated a single sprinkler head and extinguished the fire.

There were no reported injuries to firefighters or occupants of the building. Fire damage was confined to the top of the stove and the cooking container. Water damage was confined to the apartment of origin and 2 adjacent apartments. The cause of the fire was unattended cooking and was determined to be unintentional.

This incident demonstrates the importance of a properly installed and maintained automatic fire sprinkler system. It is likely that the automatic fire sprinkler system saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and property loss to the building’s owners and occupants. Further, no occupants were displaced and possible injuries and deaths to citizens and firefighters were prevented.

Automatic fire sprinkler systems have over 100 years of proven performance in protecting life and property. The City of Conroe Fire Department would like to remind the public that unattended cooking is the leading cause of residential fires in Conroe, and throughout the United States, each year. Being mindful while you cook, however, can go a long way to helping prevent these fires:

**Keep an eye on what you fry

**Be alert when cooking

**Keep things that can catch fire away from the cooking area

 

Apartment Building, Residential

Oviedo, FL – Overnight fire in three-story apartment building stopped by sprinkler system

Firefighters said a burning candle started a fire Tuesday morning at an apartment building in the Oviedo area of unincorporated Seminole County.  The Seminole County Fire Department said the fire broke out around 2:09 a.m. in a first floor unit of the three-story building.

When firefighters arrived, an audible alarm was going off, and residents had evacuated their apartments safely.  Once inside, firefighters determined the sprinkler system stopped the fire.  The American Red Cross is providing assistance to one occupant.

Apartment Building, Residential

Miami, FL – Sprinklers help stop fire on 10th floor of off-campus apartment building

Hundreds of Florida International University students were evacuated from an apartment building near campus early Thursday morning after a fire broke out while someone was cooking.

Witnesses told Local 10 News that a grease fire sparked the flames on the 10th floor of 109 Tower along Southwest 109th Avenue at Seventh Street after midnight. Much of the floor was damaged by fire and other parts of the building suffered water damage from the sprinkler system.

No one was injured, but many residents stayed up all night searching for a place to sleep.

“That’s what I’m doing right now,” one student told Local 10 News. “I’m about to go hike to go sleep on a couch.”

Jaime Zapata, who lives in the off-campus housing, told Local 10 News that students were told to pack their bags and plan to be out of the building for two days. Many of them left the building without identification and were worried because they have finals to study for and take.

“They’ve had us out here since about 2 or 3 in the morning, telling us that we can’t go back inside because it’s not safe,” student Analee Wharton said.

Susan Jennings, vice president of EdR Collegiate Housing, which owns the apartment building, said the majority of students have been allowed to return to their rooms. She said the students who lived in the apartment where the fire occurred and near the apartment have been put up in a hotel by the company.

According to Jennings, the sprinkler system was activated for about 20 minutes after the fire broke out.

FIU authorities said 109 Tower resumed normal operations Tuesday night.

Apartment Building, Residential

Appalachia, VA – Sprinkler system extinguishes fifth floor apartment fire

The Appalachia Fire Department responded to the apartment complex, located at 505 West Main Street, when a fire alarm sounded around 12:24 Saturday afternoon.  Fire Chief Robert Anderson Jr. says the fire started in an apartment on the fifth floor due to an occupant smoking while on oxygen. He tells us the sprinkler system activated and extinguished the fire.

Apartments from the fifth floor to the second floor suffered water and smoke damage. Those residents were evacuated to Appalachia High School gymnasium where they are being assisted by the Red Cross.  Anderson told us a contractor was on scene working to clean up the damages.

Apartment Building, Residential

Wilmington, NC – No one hurt in Thanksgiving day apartment fire controlled by sprinkler system

Fire officials were on the scene of an apartment fire in Wilmington on Thanksgiving Day.  It happened on Litchfield Way on Thursday afternoon shortly before 2.

Authorities say an apartment on the third floor caught fire while at least one person was home, but no one was hurt. That apartment is a total loss, while other nearby units suffered water damage from the sprinkler system.  There is no word yet on what caused the fire.

Apartment Building, Residential

Manchester, NH – Sprinkler system controls apartment fire started by careless disposal of cigarette

The careless disposal of smoking materials sparked a trash can fire that caused an estimated $7,500 in damage to a West Side apartment building Thursday, authorities said. Fire crews discovered smoke and water coming from under a closed door to Apartment 346 at The Lofts at Mill West, 195 McGregor St., just before 7 p.m., according to the fire department. Firefighters discovered a fire in a trash can in an unoccupied apartment. The automatic sprinkler system held the fire in check until firefighters extinguished the remaining flames. The resident who lived there was in another section of the building at the time, authorities said. Smoke was beginning to fill the corridors and people were evacuating the building. Brady Sullivan Properties owns the building, which recently had been refurbished into upscale apartments.

Apartment Building, Residential

Stoughton, MA – Sprinklers credited with averting potential disaster in fire at 60-unit apartment complex

A sprinkler system in a 60-plus unit apartment complex is credited with averting what could have been a disaster, the fire chief said. About noon Monday, firefighters received an alarm for The Lodge at Stoughton, which is an apartment complex on Technology Center Drive near the Randolph line.When firefighters arrived, they found staff helping to evacuate the building and smoke inside the first floor, said interim Fire Chief Gregory Goldberg. When firefighters opened the first-floor unit’s door, there was heavy smoke, but the fire was extinguished by sprinklers in the room, Goldberg said.“It was a grease fire on a stove that got going pretty good,” he said. “But it ended up all right because the sprinkler system kept it at bay.” The four-story building has more than 60 units, Goldberg said.“It could have been a major disaster,” he said. “Fire alarms save lives, and sprinklers save lives and buildings.” The woman who lives in the apartment got out safely with a friend who was inside at the time.She is being assisted by the Red Cross, as her apartment sustained smoke and major water damage. A unit next door sustained minor water damage.“When we got in, it was completely extinguished,” Goldberg said. “The fire didn’t extend through the ceiling. The sprinkler took care of it.”