Category Archives: Nursing Home/Senior Living

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

Hibbing, MN – Single sprinkler contains early morning fire at senior high rise apartment building

A fire at Hibbing’s Androy Building Sunday morning drew a full response from the Hibbing and neighboring fire departments. But when they arrived, they found the fire had already been contained by a single sprinkler head.

The Androy Building houses senior high-rise apartments, an Elks Club banquet center and an orthodontics clinic. According to the Hibbing Fire Department, firefighters arrived shortly before 6 a.m. when an automatic fire alarm was triggered. The found smoke coming from a vent near the kitchen of the Elks Club and tenants starting to to evacuate the building.

Inside, crews found smoke in the Elks side of the building but the fire down to a smolder. Crews put out the remaining smoldering material and ventilated the smoke from the banquet room. By 7:10 a.m., it was deemed safe enough to allow tenants back in.

Hibbing Fire Marshal Bryan Fagerstrom determined the case was accidental — a steam table had been left on which overheated and ignited the wood buffet table. He stressed the importance of having a properly maintained sprinkler system. “The sprinkler system in this fire was serviced and maintained per code and did exactly as it should by containing the fire and keeping it from spreading,” he said in the release.

Nursing Home/Senior Living

Bar Harbor, ME – Sprinklers douse fire at low-income and senior housing facility

Smoke coming from a window of an apartment at Harbor Hill Estate on Highbrook Road drew a quick response from firefighters just after 1 p.m.

Firefighters tapped into a hydrant on Route 3 and ran the line across the road, while police detoured traffic through College of the Atlantic for the better part of an hour. The fire was doused by the apartment’s automatic sprinkler system as firefighters arrived.

The smoke-filled apartment was ventilated.

No one was home at the time of the fire, according to reports.

As of 3 p.m., Fire Chief Matt Bartlett remained on scene investigating the cause.

Harbor Hill Estate is a low-income and senior housing facility.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Weaverville, CA – Sprinkler douses fire at senior apartment building

A fire in a room at the Weaver Creek Senior Apartments on Browns Ranch Road in Weaverville caused minor injuries to the occupant but was doused by water from a sprinkler head that activated Tuesday morning, March 31, Fire Chief Scott Alvord said.

The woman doesn’t remember exactly what happened, but she was wet when firefighters arrived and it is likely that she was smoking in bed and fell asleep, Alvord said. The resident used oxygen and it appears the bedding caught fire — but the blaze was put out by the sprinkler, which also woke the occupant, he said.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Fairborn, OH – Suspicious overnight fire at senior apartment complex put out by sprinkler system

… The second fire call came in at 1:56 a.m. as a piece of furniture on fire by the complex elevators. The fire department received further updates that there was heavy smoke and the sprinkler system had been activated.  “Someone had tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher but it was actually the sprinkler that put the fire out for us,” (Fairborn Operations Chief Dave) Reichert said.

Residents were evacuated again due to the amount of smoke. In order to get the occupants out of the weather, fire crews cleared and opened the facility gymnasium.

“This one more significant than the other,” said Reichert. “Pretty much everything used to furnish a home today is made of a petroleum product that gives off a massive amount of smoke, with a lot of energy and a lot of fuel. Our crews did an excellent job of, number one, taking care of the occupants, making sure they were safe while we continued to do our work getting the remaining smoke out of the building.”

The exact causes of the two fires are still under investigation. Due to the suspicious nature of the fires, the State Fire Marshal was called in to investigate. “It’s definitely odd to have two fires, a couple hours apart, in two different locations in the same building,” Reichert said.  No injuries were reported during either incident.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Norfolk, VA – Sprinkler system activates after fire at senior high-rise living center

The Red Cross is helping nearly 150 people after a fire at a high rise senior living center in Norfolk. Investigators say the fire started in a sixth floor kitchen at Braywood Manor,  a high rise senior living center in Norfolk, at around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Electrical service will remain off in areas of the building where the sprinkler system went off until repairs are made, said Battalion Chief Julian Williamson. 

Firefighters found moderate smoke in the hallway and found one apartment filled with smoke. The fire remains under investigation.  Four residents were evaluated at the scene and two were taken to the hospital with medical conditions unrelated to the fire, added Williamson. In all, the Red Cross says it’s supporting 142 people, 52 of whom needed lodging assistance.

 “Our team provided the displaced residents a safe place to stay, snacks and comfort items,” said Red Cross Communications Officer Jonathan McNamara. “We are currently working with fire officials, apartment management and the families to determine next steps so we can continue to aid the residents in their recovery.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Denver, CO – Sprinkler System Helps Firefighters Douse Flames at Assisted Living Center

The fire broke out Tuesday night in one room at the Brookdale Senior Assisted Living Center located at Colorado Avenue and South Quebec Way in Arapahoe County. Firefighters say the building’s sprinkler system helped them get ahead of the fire. One person was taken to the hospital because she fell while waiting outside but her injuries aren’t serious. Investigators say they know the fire was electrical but haven’t pinpointed the exact source.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Osoyoos, BC, Canada – Fire at retirement home doused by sprinkler system

Residents of an Osoyoos retirement home will begin returning to their rooms today, following their evacuation Monday night because of a fire in the laundry room. The fire was doused by the building’s sprinkler system, and fire retardant was applied by Osoyoos Fire Department members, who reacted quickly to the alarm.

The blaze erupted about 9:30 p.m. at Mariposa Village, apparently because of an overheated clothes dryer on the second floor of the care facility. Acting facility manager Jesse Sales said 26 residents were taken from their rooms and moved “behind the fire walls” as soon as the alarm was sounded. They were accommodated overnight in other rooms at the seniors’ home.

One resident and one staff member were taken to South Okanagan Regional Hospital in Oliver Tuesday night. They were treated and released and were back “in a couple of hours,” Sales said. “They (the fire department) got here before I did,” said Sales, “and I was here in about 15 minutes.”

Will McKay, managing partner of the Baybridge-Baltic ownership group, also had high praise for the volunteer fire department. “They were Johnny on the spot. … They did a wonderful job for us,” he said. 

Sales said most of the residents would be back in their rooms today. For any whose rooms are not ready for re-occupancy, alternative accommodation has been arranged, he said. The care facility is home to 109 residents, plus staff.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Paramus, NJ – Overnight fire at nursing home contained by sprinkler system

The blaze at a Paramus nursing home began in a resident’s room and was contained by the sprinkler system at the Care One at Pine Rest Nursing Home on West Ridgewood Avenue shortly before 12:15 a.m. early Thursday.  A female resident was transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood with what were reported to be minor injuries.  There were also unconfirmed reports of two residents with smoke inhalation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

San Diego, CA – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in controlling fire at senior living facility

A two-alarm fire inside a four-story senior living facility in the East Village Friday left about 25 residents displaced.  The fire at the 200-unit Potiker Family Senior Residence at 525 14th St. was reported shortly before 8:30 a.m.

Firefighters arrived to find smoke pouring from the window of a fourth-floor unit, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Lee Swanson said. Its resident was rescued and taken to UC San Diego Medical Center to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Swanson said the building’s fourth-floor sprinkler system was triggered.  Firefighters helped around 20 people evacuate and rescued several others who were wheelchair-bound or otherwise unable to get out on their own, Swanson said.

Up to 150 residents got out of the 12-year-old building safely on their own, and some were allowed to stay inside their homes, according to Paul Downey, CEO for building owner Serving Seniors, a nonprofit organization.

Downey said that after the building is deemed safe and reopened, staffers would assess the damage and determine an exact number of residents who will need temporary housing.  Swanson said the cause of the fire was accidental and that smoking materials ignited combustibles.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Brockton, MA – Single sprinkler helps extinguish fire on 10th floor of high rise for seniors and disabled

(NO MEDIA COVERAGE – Fire Department Reported)Monday in Brockton apparatus responded to a master box in a 10 story residential high-rise housing the elderly/ disabled. The result was a mattress fire in a bedroom on the 10th floor. One Sprinkler Head extinguished fire and held it until FD arrival.  Address 1380 Main Street, Brockton, MA