Category Archives: Residential High Rise

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Charleston, SC – Sprinkler system contains high rise apartment fire to 10th floor apartment

An investigation by Charleston Fire officials revealed the fire that displaced about 152 Joseph Floyd Manor residents originated on a sofa in the living area of a 10th floor apartment. The specific cause of the fire is still unknown.  Crews helped residents move to hotel rooms Monday night after the fire broke out.

Three fire departments responded to the 10th floor of the Mount Pleasant Street apartment complex and found heavy smoke, said Ryan Kunitzer of the Charleston Fire Department.  Kunitzer said a fire sprinkler contained the fire in a 10th floor apartment. Emergency personnel assisted residents off the floor.   He said the city Building Official determined the structure was uninhabitable until a full assessment could be completed.

The Red Cross, the City Housing Authority and CARTA assisted emergency crews with moving the residents to local hotels after water used to control the fire affected multiple floors, Kunitzer said. Charleston, North Charleston and St. Andrews fire departments responded to the fire, in addition to the Charleston Police Department and Charleston County EMS.

Fire officials said that 93 of the estimated 152 Joseph Floyd residents were relocated to a nearby hotel. The other 58 residents went to stay with family or friends.   Officials also confirmed that one resident was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.

The American Red Cross and Charleston County Housing and Redevelopment Authority officials opened a shelter for the residents. The shelter, located at Grace on the Ashley Baptist Church, opened Tuesday afternoon. There, residents can get a safe place to stay, meals, and other services.

Apartment Building, Residential High Rise

Stamford, CT – Laundry fire in high-rise apartment building held at bay by sprinkler system

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Though tenants had to wait outside for a bit as firefighters did their work, nobody was hurt and nobody displaced after a drier caught fire in a 12-story high rise on Strawberry Hill Avenue late Friday night. The fire department got the call for a fire at the Carlton Plaza apartment building, situated roughly between the Stamford Police Department headquarters and Stamford High School as the crow flies, shortly before 10:30 p.m.

Fire Capt. Michael Terenzio said that the fire started in or near a drier on the third floor. It is as yet unclear whether a malfunction in the drier started the fire, and the fire marshal is still investigating. “The third floor was evacuated, no one lost use of their apartments, everyone did react to the fire alarm system and it looks like the damage was confined to the object that was on fire, except for, obviously, smoke damage,” said Terenzio. “Everyone was probably out for an hour or so.”

After that, the 120 tenants were able to go back to their units. The captain said the building’s sprinkler system worked as it should and helped keep the fire at bay until firefighters were able to bring up a hose.  As a precaution, firefighters recommend regularly cleaning highly flammable drier lint out of traps and ducts.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Austin, TX – Fire in downtown residential high-rise held in check by sprinkler system; No injuries

Two people have been displaced after a Wednesday night fire in a high-rise in downtown Austin, fire officials said. Firefighters responded at 10:22 p.m. to a fire that started on the stove of an eighth-floor unit at 85 Trinity Street, the Austin Fire Department said.

No one was injured. The sprinkler system activated and held the fire in check until firefighters arrived and extinguished the remaining fire, the department said. The apartments were evacuated, and everyone returned to their homes except the two displaced residents.  The Austin Housing Authority is assisting the two residents, firefighters said.

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, Residential High Rise

Grand Rapids, MI – Fire at high-rise apartment building contained with help from sprinkler system; No injuries

Emergency crews had to scramble Thursday afternoon in downtown Grand Rapids after fire broke out on the fifth floor of the Weston Apartments. At first, smoke could be seen pouring out a window, quickly followed by water from the fire hoses. Everyone in the building was evacuated, and investigators say the fire was contained to just one apartment.

“Our primary concern, right now, is to get 89 families that call this building home into their homes,” said Grand Rapids Fire Department deputy chief Kevin Sehlmeyer. “Many of them, in the process of leaving, left all their belongings behind — including cell phones. We have a mother that needs diapers.”

Fire officials say no one was injured, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation. There isn’t much room in downtown Grand Rapids to grow out, so the only option is up. Those taller buildings and provide more difficult challenges for fire fighters.

“All of our companies are trained in high rise operations which includes working off stairs I mean they had to hike up five floors before they even began work today,” says Grand Rapids Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Sehlmeyer.

This afternoon, their training allowed them to hold this fire at Weston Apartments to just one unit.  Crews learn how to climb stairs quickly and efficiently to get hose and water to the burning apartments, they learn to blow water from inside out to avoid spreading flames on the inside and deeper into the building. Out of the 96 units, only one had fire damage only two water damaged.

“We worked off of what is called a stand pipe. There’s a fire protection system in the building our crews hook to that then make their way onto the floor,” says Sehlmeyer.

Like any high rise, these buildings come with sprinkler systems, which help.The concrete construction of older buildings, like the Weston, help contain the damage. But time is still the enemy when these apartments are so stacked together. There’s no wiggle room to stop it from spreading.

“The faster we can get the water picked up the less damage to the units below so that’s the priority right now,” says Sehlmeyer.

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

Fall River, MA – Sprinklers extinguish fire on 6th floor of apartment building with over 100 elderly and disabled residents; No injuries

An early-evening fire sent elderly and disabled residents of Borden Place West, 181 S. Main St., out of their apartments. The fire started around 5:30 p.m. in the trash compactor, according to Fall River District Fire Chief Douglas Sullivan. The exact cause was being investigated, but Sullivan said it appeared accidental.  The sprinkler went on in the trash compactor and extinguished the fire.

“The system worked the way that it should have,” Sullivan said. “The fire was contained.”

Wendy Carvalho, who acts as the fire warden on the sixth floor where she resides, said someone may have dropped an ashtray or cigarette into the trash chute “I knocked on everyone’s door,” Carvalho said. “They all came out.”

Most of the 100-plus residents in the building are elderly or disabled, with many using walkers and in wheelchairs. Heavy smoke hung in the hallways even after the fire was extinguished, and many residents sat outside waiting to get back into their apartments. Other residents were inside the community room on the street level, and out of harm’s way.

Resident Joseph Blanchard, who has lived in the building for 25 years, said it wasn’t the first fire at Borden West, but it was the worst. “There was really a lot of smoke,” Blanchard said.

Sullivan said Borden West owner Peabody Properties called in professional cleaners to remove the excess water from the apartments that were flooded on the first floor. All residents were allowed back inside within a couple of hours.

No residents were injured. One firefighter fell and injured his shoulder but was able to continue working. Responding to the fire were four engines, two ladder trucks, Rescue No. 1, Special Services, and Fall River police.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential, Residential High Rise

Iowa City, IA – Late night fire on 9th floor of University of Iowa residence hall held in check by sprinkler system; No injuries

A fire on the ninth floor of Slater Residence Hall did minor damage to the University of Iowa building early Saturday morning. According to a news release from the Iowa City Fire Department, firefighters arrived at Slater Hall, 325 S. Grand Ave., at about 1:24 a.m. Saturday, four minutes after receiving an alarm for a fire on the ninth floor.

When firefighters arrived, all occupants of the structure had evacuated the building, according to the release. The fire was contained to a single dorm room. The building’s sprinkler system helped keep the fire in check, according to the release, and the fire was extinguished within six minutes. No civilians or firefighters were injured by the fire. Minimal smoke and fire damage was reported to the building, according to the release, and two students were displaced from their dorm by fire damage.

A release from UI Department of Strategic Communications Saturday said that “there is significant water damage on several floors.” A second release on Sunday confirmed that only two students remained displaced by the fire and were being provided with temporary housing in Slater while their room was repaired.

UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck had said Saturday it was likely “very few” residents displaced and that they had been provided rooms. Sprinklers had only been activated in the areas effected by the fire, Beck said. UI is still waiting on a damage estimate. Beck added that the dorm had its annual fall fire drill in September, so residents were prepared for the evacuation.

Estimated cost of damage and the cause of the fire were not known as of Saturday morning, though both were still being investigated. The UI release said that the fire “appears to have been unintentional.”

University of Iowa Police, Iowa City Police, Johnson County Ambulance Service and University of Iowa Facilities supported the ICFD at the scene.

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

North Adams, MA – Cooking fire in 7th floor apartment quickly put out by sprinkler system

Firefighters evacuated some residents from the high rise on Friday afternoon after a small cooking fire broke out on the 7th floor. Fire Director Stephen Meranti said the fire was quickly put out by the sprinkler system.

“Right now we are evacuating because of smoke and water. We do have water all the way from the seventh floor all the way down,” Meranti said. “We are checking apartments as we go down through, but the sprinkler system did its job.”  Meranti said no one was injured.

The Fire Department was alerted to the situation at about 12:30 p.m., when an alarm was activated in a unit at the Ashland Park Apartments. Scanner reports indicated water was “pouring down the hallways” in the Housing Authority building.

Residents clustered in the community room on the ground floor until being allowed back into their homes. Executive Director Jennifer Hohn said a few units below the seventh-floor apartment were affected.

“A significant amount of water from the sprinklers has entered the units directly below on all floors,” she said. “As a result of water seeping into electrical panels, power to these affected units has been shut off.”

Hohn said the Holiday Inn was gracious to offer accommodations and a meal for those residents affected by the fire and its containment.

 

“There is a chance the power will not be restored by the evening so I have reserved a block of rooms at the Holiday Inn for anybody needing accommodations,” she said. “I will update the board when a further assessment of the damage is concluded.

 

“The important thing is nobody was injured.”

 

Police and North Adams Ambulance Service also responded; Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Police assisted with traffic control as Ashland Street was restricted to one lane.

 

The incident is under investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise

Nashville, TN – No one hurt in senior high-rise after sprinklers extinguish overnight fire

Emergency crews evacuated a Nashville retirement home early Monday after a resident reportedly fell asleep while smoking and caught a chair on fire, a fire spokesman said. Fire crews responded about 1:15 a.m. to Trevecca Towers at 60 Lester Ave. for a report of smoke at the 16-story building, Nashville Fire Department spokesman Brian Haas said.

Arriving crews evacuated the tower and found several pieces of furniture on fire in a room on the second floor, Haas said. The building’s sprinklers put the fire out shortly after crews arrived, Haas said.

“We have a lot of residents whose families are concerned,” said Tyler Jones, the building’s manager. “Thankfully, the sprinkler system worked as designed, so we’re grateful no one was hurt.”

Nearly two dozen residents were displaced, Haas said, but some of them were able to be housed at vacant units in the same building. The American Red Cross was called in to contact families of the other displaced residents to find temporary homes until their units are repaired. The nonprofit agency also provided cots for a few other displaced residents.

Although the facility may also have to put some displaced residents in hotel rooms, Jones said he wants to assure families that the residents will be taken care of.