Category Archives: Nursing Home/Senior Living

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.

Dayton, OH – 8th floor fire at senior apartment building extinguished with help from sprinkler system

 Crews were dispatched to the senior living facility just before 7:30 p.m. Friday on a report of a fire in an apartment of a multi-story building.   The fire originated in an eighth-floor apartment at Bethany Village,  The sprinkler system activated and several medic units have been requested.

Washington Twp. fire Capt. Ron Kern said the fire began in the kitchen of an eighth-floor apartment, and said the cause is under investigation. He also confirmed that two residents have been displaced because of water damage that occurred from floors eight to five.The building was being evacuated as fire crews arrived, Kern said, lauding staff for its quick work in starting that process when the fire alarm was activated. He did not know how many residents and staff had to be evacuated.

We’re told by a maintenance worker at the facility that there was a fire in the kitchen of an apartment on the eighth floor, but it was quickly put out by firefighters and the building sprinkler system. Only the eighth floor was evacuated, fire officials said, and two units are now inhabitable because of water damage.

Oklahoma City, OK – Sprinklers quickly extinguish fire at retirement community; No injuries

New Port Richey, FL – Sprinkler system puts out fire at assisted living facility

Pasco County is reporting that the fire at Gulf Haven is out.  The building’s sprinkler system took care of the blaze. Further information is not yet available.

Earlier: Pasco County Fire Rescue is on the scene of a reported commercial structure fire at Gulf Haven assisted living, 6343 Rowan Road.

Initial reports indicate a fire broke out caused by an electrical heater on the building’s first floor, Pasco County spokesman Doug Tobin wrote in an email to media. Units on the scene have not reported any signs of smoke or fire, Tobin noted, but an evacuation is in progress as a precaution.  No further details are available at this time.

Franklin, OH – Fire at low-income senior apartment building extinguished by sprinkler system

Delray Beach, FL – Kitchen fire at assisted living facility quickly contained by sprinkler system

Two floors of an assisted living facility in suburban Delray Beach were evacuated Monday night when a small fire started in the kitchen of an apartment, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue reports.

The fire started just before 9:15 p.m. in the 14000 block of Sims Road at Grand Villa of Delray Beach, north of Atlantic Avenue and west of Military Trail.

The building’s fire alarm and sprinkler system were activated and crews were quickly able to get the fire under control, said Capt. Albert Borroto, spokesman for Fire Rescue. The first and second floors of the facility were evacuated as a precaution.

There was no fire extension into any of the other units, Borroto said.  At 10:30 p.m., the building was being ventilated and residents from the second floor were allowed back into their homes.  It was not known how many residents from the first floor remained displaced late Monday.

 

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.

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.

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.

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.