Category Archives: Residential High Rise

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Youngstown, OH – Fire on 15th floor of residential high-rise extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries

A fire on the 15th floor of the International Towers in downtown Youngstown resulted in the building’s evacuation Friday. Youngstown Fire Department Battalion Chief Ron Russo said the department first became aware of the fire shortly after 6 p.m. Russo was dispatched alongside a pair of fire engines to the scene. There were no injuries from the fire and no external damage to the building. When the firefighters arrived, the fire was already extinguished thanks to the building’s sprinkler system. The firefighters remained to help mop up the water and investigate the fire source. Though the official cause of the fire was not determined at the time of this report, Russo suggested it likely began due to clothing or other items accidentally igniting after coming into contact with a heat source, such as a furnace. A small number of residents said they experienced some water damage to their property due to the sprinklers, but the majority of the individuals evacuated expressed relief that no one was hurt and that the fire did not spread to other parts of the tower.

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Calgary, AB, Canada – Sprinkler system stops high-rise balcony fire from entering building; No injuries reported

Several floors of a southwest Calgary apartment building were evacuated Saturday night after a fire broke out on an upper storey balcony. Around 9:30 p.m., the Calgary Fire Department responded to several calls regarding visible flames coming off a balcony at the London Tower building in the 8000 block of Horton Road S.W.  Calgary Fire Department Battalion Chief Alistair Tobin said residents in units two floors above and two floors below the fire were evacuated and placed onto city transit buses.

No one was injured and fire crews managed to contain the fire and smoke damage to just one unit. “The sprinkler system worked perfect so it stopped the fire from entering the building much. The patio or the balcony was quite heavily damaged but the suite was protected by the sprinkler system,” Tobin said.  Tobin said residents of six units were not allowed back into their homes last night. Everyone else who was evacuated was permitted to re-enter the building after the fire department completed its air quality monitoring.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Shreveport, LA – High-rise apartment fire put out by sprinkler system

Cleanup is underway after a fire at an apartment building in downtown Shreveport.  Authorities think a trash can in a closet on the 11th floor of Fairmont Apartments caught fire.  The sprinkler system doused the fire that was reported at 5:54 p.m. Tuesday. Now Shreveport Fire Department crews are using vacuums to remove water from the high-rise on the northeast corner of Cotton at Common streets. A ventilation fan is being used to get smoke out of the building.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Shreveport, LA – Sprinkler system puts out fire on 10th floor of apartment building

Residents of the Highland View Apartments were evacuated last night after firefighters responded to an apartment fire around 10:50 PM. It happened on the 10th floor of the apartment building in the 1800 block of Fairfield Avenue and thankfully no one was hurt.  Officials tell us the sprinkler system actually put out the fire before fire crews arrived.  The cause of the fire is still under investigation.  

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Pittsburgh, PA – Fire in high-rise apartment complex contained to sixth floor apartment by sprinkler system

One person was taken to the hospital after a fire broke out Wednesday evening at a high-rise apartment complex in the city’s Sheraden section.  The three-alarm fire broke out around 7:30 p.m. at the Goodwill Plaza apartments on Hillsboro Street.  According to Pittsburgh Public Safety, the fire broke out in a sixth floor apartment.  The sprinkler system activated, and the fire was contained to that one apartment.  One person was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. That person is in stable condition.

 

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Pleasantville, NJ – Sprinklers help extinguish mattress fire at high-rise apartment building; No injuries reported

City firefighters extinguished a mattress fire Tuesday evening in one of the city’s new downtown high-rise buildings. No injuries were reported in the fire, which was reported 7:23 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10 at apartment 514 in the Main at City Center, 49 S. Main St.  Water damage was reported in the unit and in the apartments below, according to police Capt. Matt Hartman.  Pleasantville firefighters brought the fire under control at 7:35 p.m., Hartman said.  They found heavy smoke on the fifth floor when they arrived, and Pleasantville Police Department Squad 2 evacuated the building’s occupants. Their efforts included carrying disabled residents down stairwells.  Pleasantville Fire Department Shift 1, under the direction of Battalion Chief Ken Crawford, extinguished the fire with the help of the building’s sprinkler system.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise

Evanston, IL – Fire at senior residential high rise controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Evanston fire crews responded to a report of a fire on the 9th floor of The Mather at 425 Davis St. shortly before noon.  Fire Division Chief Paul Polep says a resident of the retirement community had left a stove top burner on which ignited a basket of goods on the counter top.  Polep says the the sprinkler system in the apartment had brought the fire under control by the time fire fighters arrived.  Residents of the floor evacuated safely, Polep says, and there were no injuries reported.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Chicago, IL – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire in low income residential high-rise

Last Friday, fire sprinklers controlled and extinguished a fire in a trash compactor room at the Lawson House YMCA at 30 West Chicago Avenue in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. The 24-story residential high-rise, which was built in 1934, is the largest single-room occupancy supportive housing facility in the Midwest with nearly 600 apartment units.

“Some of the residents in the low-income building are formerly homeless, so a fire that could potentially displace them again would be devastating. Fire sprinklers saved the day for the hundreds of people that live there,” says Tom Lia, executive director of the nonprofit Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board.

Lia also notes that the fire sprinkler save is a good reminder to Chicago high-rise building owners that the city’s deadline to retrofit high-rises with fire sprinklers by January 1, 2017, is fast approaching.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential High Rise

Southfield, MI – Early morning fire in senior high-rise complex put out by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

The all-clear has been given after some scary, smoky moments inside a senior living complex in Southfield early Thursday morning.  Fire crews were called around 3:30 a.m. to Highland Towers off Greenfield Road near Interstate 696 because the fire alarms were going off. Many residents saw and smelled smoke.  Firefighters were door to door on all 12 floors trying to wake everyone up and learn where the smoke was coming from.

“We didn’t know where the fire came from,” says Deborah Taylor-Kiel. “I just smelled the smoke because the doors shut and the fire alarm went off in my apartment where I live, and that’s very scary.”

Eventually, firefighters learned someone threw something down the trash shoot which started a fire in the trash room. The sprinkler system was able to put the fire out.

No one was hurt and nobody’s individual apartment was damaged, so everyone was allowed back in their homes. Some parts of the building have water damage now, though. 

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential High Rise

Lafayette, LA – Sprinkler system activates in high-rise senior apartment building fire; No injuries reported

The fire originated in an apartment on the fourth floor of Evangeline Elderly Apartments. It was caused by an occupant who left a pot of grease unattended on the stove top. The grease ignited and caught the cabinets in the kitchen on fire. The sprinkler system in the apartment activated and quickly extinguished the fire. The kitchen sustained minimal fire damage. However, heavy water damage was observed seeping through light fixtures on the first floor.

Concerned of electrical hazards from the water, 69 tenants were evacuated and later transported to two local hotels. The management company arranged for the transportation and lodging.

Acadian Ambulance, Lafayette Police, and American Red Cross assisted fire personnel with the care of the elderly tenants. No one sustained any injuries.

The cause of the fire was ruled an accident.

ORIGINAL STORY:A small fire that broke out Tuesday evening at Evangeline Elderly Apartments in Lafayette has inadvertently caused big problems for more than 60 of its residents.

According to information from the Lafayette Fire Department, a small fire broke out in a fourth-floor apartment’s kitchen Tuesday, triggering the building’s sprinkler system. The fire was extinguished before firefighters arrived at the scene; however, the water from the sprinkler system caused another issue.

As a result of the water from the sprinkler system, firefighters worked to evacuate about 65 of the complex’s residents.

“The fourth floor on down has sustained some extent of water damage,” Lafayette Fire Department spokesman Alton Trahan said in an email. “Water is seeping through some of the electrical fixtures on each floor.”