Category Archives: Residential High Rise

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Waipahu, HI – Kitchen fire in high-rise apartment building extinguished by sprinkler

Unattended food on a stove caused the evacuation of the high-rise building Tuesday night.  The fire was reported at 9:36 p.m. at the Plantation Town Apartments located at 94-979 Kauolu Place.

Seven fire companies staffed with 23 personnel arrived at 9:42 p.m. to find residents leaving the 12-story apartment building. Firefighters discovered the kitchen fire had been extinguished by an activated fire sprinkler.  The activated sprinkler system caused significant flooding to ten additional units.

Paramedics treated a resident injured evacuating the building and took the resident to the hospital.  The fire was isolated to the kitchen area of a fourth floor unit.  Damage is estimated at $5,000 to the structure and $2,000 to its contents.

The water damage had not been evaluated Tuesday night.  No other injuries were reported.

Residential, Residential High Rise

St. Petersburg, FL – Sprinkler system saves residents of high-rise residential tower after ninth floor kitchen fire

(Blog Editor’s Note – Smoke does not cause sprinklers to activate – Only the substantial heat from a significant fire).

A small kitchen fire set off the sprinkler system and forced evacuation of the Burlington Towers in downtown St. Petersburg on Monday night, sending dry residents into the evening showers.

The fire in a unit on the 9th floor was put out quickly, but the smoke had activated the alarm system and set off the sprinkler system, officials said. At one point there were two inches of water in the hall of the 9th floor, and water had cascaded down to the seventh floor hall.

Some of the responding firefighters, who normally would haul hoses, were instead told to bring squeegees. There were no reports of injuries.

Apartment Building, Residential High Rise

Orange, CA – Overnight high-rise apartment fire suppressed by sprinklers; potential disaster averted

(Blog Note: Please let us know what you think of this journalist’s focus on water damage rather than the lives and property saved by the sprinkler system in this overnight, high-rise fire).   Orange police and fire officials responded around 12:15 a.m. to reports of a structure fire at the Community Garden Towers in the 4000 block of West Garden Grove Boulevard, and found smoke coming from the fourth floor, officials said.

Authorities found a mattress on fire on the floor and the flames activated the sprinkler system in the building. Authorities said the building was evacuated and electricity may have been briefly turned off, but residents were able to re-enter the building shortly after the fire was extinguished.

Orange police initially detained a man who lives in the unit where the fire started on suspicion that he may have intentionally started it, Deputy Fire Marshal Casey Fieldhouse said.

But he was later released and not arrested, police Sgt. Phil McMullin.  Three people were displaced due to the damage and were assisted by local Red Cross officials. Authorities did not initially release the cause of the fire or damage estimates.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential High Rise

Pikeville, KY – Fire at residential high-rise for elderly and disabled extinguished by sprinkler system

A sprinkler system quickly extinguished a fire at the Myers Towers apartments on the 700 block of Hambley Boulevard.  The fire started sometime around 1:30 a.m. Friday on the 9th floor of the apartment building.  When the Pikeville Fire Department arrived, they found a small fire in one of the apartments but the sprinkler system had knocked it down.

PFD and Pikeville Police evacuated the apartment building, which houses the elderly and disabled in 200 units, while crews searched for the fire.  There were no injuries and the cause of the fire is under investigation

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential, Residential High Rise

Champaign, IL – Sprinklers control fire in campus high-rise apartment building

Nobody was hurt in an apartment fire Sunday night at a campus high-rise.  Champaign Fire Marshal John Koller said firefighters were called to a blaze at the Tower at Third, 302 E. John St. at 9:22 p.m.

By the time firefighters arrived, the sprinkler system was already controlling the fire, which was limited to a single apartment on the third floor. However, smoke had spread throughout the floor. There was moderate smoke in the apartment and light smoke on the rest of the floor.

The residents were evacuated to the lobby on the first floor while firefighters tackled the blaze.  A resident of the apartment told firefighters he had had some problems with a refrigerator in the apartment, but it was too soon to determine a cause on Sunday night. 

Koller said investigators would be looking into the cause late Sunday night and early Monday morning.  Koller said the fire was under control by 9:40 p.m.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Ocean City, MD – High-rise condominium fire extinguished by sprinkler system

A potential disaster was averted on Sunday evening when a sprinkler quickly extinguished a kitchen fire at a 25th-floor unit in a north-end high-rise condominium.

Shortly before 11 p.m. on Sunday, the Ocean City Fire Department responded to a fire alarm activation resulting from a fire in a unit at the Century I condominium building. When firefighters arrived, there was smoke reported from a unit on the 25th floor. The fire department response was quickly upgraded to a structure fire in a high-rise structure.

The fire, which originated in the unit’s kitchen, was suppressed by one fire sprinkler upon arrival of the fire department. Firefighters on scene worked immediately to remove smoke throughout the 25th floor. OCFD officials said the fire at the high-rise structure illustrated the importance of working fire sprinkler systems.

“Fire sprinklers respond quickly and effectively to fire, often extinguishing the fire before the fire department arrives,” said Ocean City Fire Marshal David Hartley. “This is a perfect example of how an automatic sprinkler reacted quickly, reduced the heat and flames and prevented injuries to those inside the building.”

The unit was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. The fire damage was limited to the unit in which it originated. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Ocean City Fire Marshal’s Office.

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

Columbia, MO – Single sprinkler activates to control fire in apartments for seniors and disabled

Officials said unattended cooking was the cause of a Thursday fire in an apartment at Paquin Tower, 1201 Paquin St., according to a Columbia Fire Department news release. A fire department crew was dispatched at 9:39 p.m. to the apartment building, where water was spotted coming from under an apartment door.

According to the news release, one sprinkler head brought the fire under control and 84 percent of residential fires are contained by one sprinkler head. The crew remained on the scene to clean up the water in the apartment and in the hallway.

 

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential High Rise

Auburn, WA – Early morning fire in senior apartment building doused by sprinkler system

A building sprinkler system contained a fire in a seven-story senior apartment complex in Auburn early Thursday morning. Damage was limited to four apartments, the Valley Regional Fire Authority reported.

VRFA crews responded to a report of the fire at the Plaza 17 Apartment building, 1001 17th St. SE, shortly after 7:30 a.m. When crews arrived, they found that three sprinkler heads had activated containing the fire to one apartment unit on the sixth floor of the building. Residents were evacuating.

Firefighters completed fire extinguishment and searched the building for any remaining residents needing assistance. Residents were able to rest in the building’s community room, unaffected by the fire, while fire crews cleared smoke and used water vacuums to remove excess water.

Four apartment units were deemed uninhabitable, primarily because of the water damage. Building managers were able to find housing for all but one resident who will be helped by the American Red Cross. Kent Fire Department RFA, South King Fire and Rescue and King County Medic One assisted the VRFA. The fire is under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Shreveport, LA – High-rise apartment blaze knocked down by sprinkler system

Firefighters were called to the high-rise Fairmont Apartments building in downtown Shreveport just before 7:00 Monday evening. Fire officials say the fire appeared to have started in the kitchen of a third floor apartment. Fortunately, the sprinkler system had mostly knocked out the fire before firefighters arrived.

“The sprinkler system did what it was supposed to do, save the owners of the building money, reduce the damage and minimize injuries to the occupants. So, the sprinkler system was effective in doing its job,” says Shreveport Fire Chief Fred Sanders. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise

San Diego, CA – Sprinklers help contain blaze at senior residential high-rise; No injuries

A fire of unknown origin erupted in a City Heights senior-housing high-rise Monday afternoon.  The non-injury blaze began spreading on the seventh floor of the 10-story building in the 4100 block of 42nd Street about 2:45 p.m., according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

It took crews about a half-hour to extinguish the flames, which appeared to have originated on or near an outdoor deck, SDFRD Capt. Joe Amador said.  A built-in fire sprinkler helped keep the blaze from rapidly spreading prior to the arrival of emergency personnel, he said.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the unit where it originated, though several nearby ones sustained smoke and heat damage, according to Amador.

Authorities evacuated about 70 people from the building and directed others to remain in their apartments for a time as a precaution. The American Red Cross was called in to help arrange interim lodging for those unable to return to their residences immediately.