Residential, Residential High Rise Chicago, IL – Kitchen fire in downtown residential high-rise smothered by sprinkler system July 5, 2016 viking210 ** FIRE DEPT REPORTED *** Chicago Fire Department – Fire in a High Rise – 30 S Jefferson St Chicago, IL A minor kitchen fire was put out by a sprinkler system at 10:54 am. BC3 reports smoke conditions in a high-rise building and requests a fill out to a “Still in a High-Rise.” Aerial Tower 1 checking the East Stairwell Fire Attack Stairwell. T1 assigned west stairwell.
Apartment Building, Residential High Rise Danville, VA – High rise apartment fire put out by sprinkler system; No injuries July 5, 2016 viking210 Two Danville House apartments were damaged in a Saturday afternoon fire blamed on unattended cooking. The Danville Fire Department responded to the call on the eighth floor in apartment No. 802 at 600 Main St. at about 1:45 p.m., according to a news release. A fire in the kitchen had been extinguished by a sprinkler system but filled the apartment with smoke. “After confirming there was no additional fire, the engine company stopped the flow of water from the sprinkler head,” Battalion Chief Brian K. Alderson said in the release. “Water was running down into apartments on the seventh floor.” Crews redirected water out a window and covered furniture and other valuables with salvage covers, Alderson said. Power to the affected apartments also was turned off. Firefighters stayed on scene until about 340 p.m. There were no injuries. The apartment on the eighth floor received smoke, heat and water damage, and another apartment on the seventh floor received water damage. The Danville chapter of the American Red Cross is helping one occupant and her pet. Another occupant will stay with family. “All other tenants were allowed to return to their respective apartments,” Alderson said. The cause of the fire was unattended cooking, according to the release. “The DFD reminds everyone to stay alert and in the kitchen when cooking,” Alderson said. “The sprinkler system at the Danville House kept this fire from becoming a large fire that would have displaced many residents.”
Residential, Residential High Rise Hutchinson, KS – Chemical fire in student’s apartment confined by sprinkler system June 24, 2016 viking210 Hutchinson police investigators think a Hutchinson college student was experimenting with mixing chemicals to create an explosion when he caused a fire in his Plaza Towers apartment Tuesday evening. Local authorities also contacted Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation after their investigation revealed the man was sharing his knowledge in chemical bomb making with people in other states, Hutchinson Police Detective Jamie Schoenhoff said. Police arrested Chase Lee Coble, 22, on suspicion of aggravated arson in an occupied building, unlawful possession of explosives in an occupied building, conspiracy to commit use of explosives and felony criminal damage to property. He has not yet made a court appearance and remains jailed on $12,500 bond. Firefighters responded to Coble’s apartment at the Plaza Towers, 17 E. Second Ave., at about 4 p.m. after a fire triggered the building’s sprinkler system. The fire itself was small, said Deputy Fire Chief Doug Hanen, and was confined to the top of an upright freezer. He estimated damage from water to the apartment, however, at $4,000 to $5,000. “After the fire department responded, they discovered numerous chemicals in the apartment they thought might have been meth-lab-related,” Schoenhoff said. “Due to my past history with investigating meth labs, I quickly observed it was not a meth lab but something, in my opinion, more nefarious.” Police called the State Fire Marshal’s Office, which in turn contacted the South Central Region Homeland Security Hazmat Response Team. All of the chemicals were collected and properly disposed of, Schoenhoff said. “Mr. Coble is a student at (Hutchinson Community College) majoring in chemistry,” Schoenhoff said. “He’s attended several colleges in other states, in the same major.” He came to Hutchinson from Salina about a year ago, the detective said. In talking with Coble and finding items throughout the apartment, they identified at least three chemicals that when mixed with others would create an explosion of flash fire, Schoenhoff said. “That created a danger to all the occupants of the building,” he said. The 12-story building has 63 apartments. There also were indications in the apartment that there had been previous fires or explosions there, Schoenhoff said, though none resulted in firefighters responding or significant damage. “Of equal concern, he’d been communicating with individuals in other states with reference to giving advice and detailing how to make chemical explosives,” he said. At least one such contact was in Minnesota. That information, he said, led investigators to contact the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the FBI. Investigators seized at least 10 computer servers from the apartment, though all “went through the sprinkler system shower,” he said. “Right now, we’re handling it at the state level, but everyone is interested in the computer analysis.” The chemicals, for the most part, Schoenhoff said, are items anyone can purchase and none was illegal in itself to own. The problem, he said, is in mixing them, and Coble admitted to attempting to create explosives. “He knew his stuff, as far as chemicals and reactions,” Schoenhoff said. “He gave different reasons, some legitimate reasons, as to why he was trying to experiment.” Police arrested Coble last month on suspicion of driving under the influence and battery on a law enforcement officer, Schoenhoff said.
Apartment Building, Residential High Rise Macon, GA – Arson fire at high-rise apartments contained with help from sprinkler system June 21, 2016 viking210 Fire alarms and sprinklers went off again Monday morning at St. Paul Apartments, a high-rise at 1330 Forsyth St. plagued by recent arsons. Macon-Bibb County fire investigator Sgt. Steve Wesson said several fires have been reported at the building in the past three or four weeks. “A resident was setting something on fire and throwing it down the trash chute, causing the Dumpster to catch on fire,” Wesson said before leaving the apartments Monday morning. About 5:30 a.m., Macon-Bibb firefighters responded to a small fire in room 904, a vacant apartment that was being used for storage, Macon-Bibb fire investigator Lt. Ben Gleaton said. The room had been burglarized, some tools stolen and a fire set, Wesson said. “I hope you get whoever. This is crazy,” fourth-floor resident Brigitte Gramke told the investigators as she walked her dog outside the brick building near downtown Macon. “It’s really bad.” A Bibb County deputy arrested Robert Walter Hutchens, 75, who lives in room 901 at St. Paul Apartments. Hutchens was charged with burglary, according to Bibb County jail records, and stolen tools were recovered. Additional charges are pending if Hutchens is found responsible for the fire. The sprinkler system caused water damage in some of the building, Gleaton said. “It has to cost a fortune and usually it’s arson,” Gramke said of the multiple fires. The St. Paul Apartments manager declined to comment Monday morning.
Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise Honolulu, HI – High rise apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system June 9, 2016 viking210 Honolulu firefighters rushed to a Kinau Street apartment early Thursday following reports of an odor of smoke. According to the Honolulu Fire Department, more than 10 firefighters were dispatched around 1:30 a.m. to Kinau Vista located at 1150 Kinau Street. Upon arrival at 1:35 a.m., they discovered that an activated sprinkler head extinguished a fire that broke out earlier. HFD did not have further details regarding the fire, but there were no injuries reported. The cause of the fire and damage estimates are under investigation.
Apartment Building, Residential High Rise Houston, TX – High-rise apartment fire quickly extinguished by sprinkler system June 2, 2016 viking210 A high-rise apartment building in southwest Houston was evacuated Tuesday night after a fire erupted in one of the units. The blaze broke out about 7:45 p. m. at the Conquistador apartments at 7575 Bellaire near Fondren, according to the Houston Fire Department. Officials said the small fire was in an eighth-floor kitchen of the seventeen-story building. The sprinkler system operated well and the fire was quickly extinguished. Firefighters evacuated the building, cleared smoke from the high-rise and inspected electrical equipment to make sure water had not created hazards. Later, residents were allowed back inside their apartments. No injuries were reported.
Residential, Residential High Rise Madison, WI – Residential high-rise fire limited by sprinkler system; No injuries reported May 15, 2016 viking210 The Madison Fire Department says the automatic fire sprinkler system kept a fire in the YWCA building from spreading. Firefighters were called to the building at 101 E. Mifflin Street just before 5 p.m. Saturday evening. The fire department says the fire was in the fifth floor hallway. The first unit in found heavy smoke on the fifth floor, so firefighters activated a second alarm. With the help of the sprinklers, fire crews had the fire under control by about 5:15 p.m. Everyone who lived in the building was able to return. The Madison Fire Department says the Red Cross helped some families with emergency needs and Metro Transit provided a bus for residents to stay warm while the building was evacuated. Damage is estimated at $25,000. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. ******** UPDATE (WKOW) — Fire Chief Steven Davis on the scene says the fifth floor of the YWCA, where the fire was located, is residential housing. The people there have been evacuated. No one’s been asked to leave the rest of the building, however. Crews were able to put out the fire. No injuries are reported – though there is some water damage. Investigators on the scene are trying to determine the cause and when the fifth-floor residents can be let back in. ******** MADISON (WKOW) — Madison firefighters are responding to a second alarm at the downtown YWCA location. The fire department supervisor on duty says the call came in just before 5:00 p.m. for smoke coming from the fifth floor of the structure at 101 E. Mifflin.
Residential, Residential High Rise Phoenix, AZ – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in controlling high rise fire April 18, 2016 viking210 A trash compactor caught fire in a central Phoenix high rise on Saturday, Fire Capt. Red Bigler said. The Phoenix Fire Department was called to the high rise building on the southeast corner of Central Avenue and Lexington to investigate reports of a fire. Crews encountered light smoke and an active sprinkler situation surrounding the fire, which was located in a trash compactor, Bigler said. Firefighters were able to control the fire and no evacuations of the building were ordered. No one was injured in the incident
Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential High Rise Windsor, ON, Canada – Fire at senior high-rise apartment building controlled by sprinkler system April 9, 2016 viking210 Fire broke out late Wednesday night in a unit in a high-rise apartment building across from Coventry Gardens in Windsor. John Lee, with Windsor Fire and Rescue, says no one was injured. “We got a call about 10:15 p.m. to the Amica building. It is a vulnerable occupancy [building]. It’s a nursing [and] rest home, senior’s living. There was a fire on the second floor in one of the units. The sprinkler system activated. The resident got out safely,” he said. Windsor Fire and Rescue says because the sprinklers activated and kept the fire under control. An investigator will look into what started the fire on Riverside Drive, near Pillette Road.
Apartment Building, Residential High Rise Hackensack, NJ – Kitchen fire in high-rise apartment building contained with help from sprinkler system April 2, 2016 viking210 Grease on a stovetop caught fire Wednesday evening, spreading flames to an apartment’s microwave and cabinets before firefighters put it out. The single-alarm blaze at 140 Prospect Ave. was reported at 7:11 p.m., Fire Lt. Justin Derevyanik said. Firefighters found smoke on the 14th floor of the apartment building and discovered that the fire had been partially extinguished by the sprinkler system in apartment 14A. Several other apartments suffered water damage. Firefighters put out the flames within 10 minutes, Derevyanik said. Three residents suffered smoke inhalation as they were getting out of the building; a man and a woman were treated at the scene while another man was taken to Holy Name Medical Center. Twenty-six firefighters from Hackensack and Teaneck responded, as well as Hackensack EMTs..
