What we know: Pasco County Fire Rescue says crews responded to Bethlehem Housing in the Bayonet Point area after a small fire started on the third floor.
Firefighters quickly put out the fire and no injuries were reported, according to fire officials, but water damage from the sprinkler system forced about 30 residents to evacuate.
The Red Cross is helping those displaced.
What we don’t know: The cause of the fire is under investigation.
According to a release from the New Berlin Fire Department, crews responded at 2:13 a.m. for reports of a vehicle fire at 12560 West Mac Alister Way after a neighbor said they saw smoke coming from a garage.
Once on scene, officials say a large multi-family residential complex had its sprinkler system activated, controlling the vehicle fire in the garage and allowing firefighters to quickly extinguish the rest of the fire.
No one was hurt in the incident, and damages were limited, with residents being allowed to reenter their homes within an hour.
There is no information on what caused the fire, and an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Officials say the resident was cooking and had a stovetop fire that spread up to the kitchen cabinets before being controlled by the sprinklers.
Fire crews on scene assured extinguishment, searched, salvaged belongings, and overhauled the scene to assure no spread.
“Ladder 11 from the Santa Clara station, Truck 1, Battalion 1 and the Fire Investigator are on scene,” the fire department said Thursday afternoon.
The fire in the 20 block of South D Street was reported at 8:05 a.m. Tuesday and extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system before firefighters arrived, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The Red Cross was requested to provide assistance for eight adults displaced in the fire, the fire department reported.
No firefighter injuries were reported.
The Quesnel Volunteer Fire Department was called to Elliott Street just before 2 o’clock.
We spoke with Fire Chief Ron Richert on the scene.
“Upon arrival we had a room on the second floor that had an active fire and heavy smoke. Crews were able to act quick and get that person, we had one person transported to G.R. Baker, they were rescued out of the building quite quickly. We did have three people on the third floor that were rescued, and the remaining occupants were quickly evacuated out of the building.”
Richert says the sprinkler system helped to suppress most of the fire, although he says there is some damage.
“We do have quite a bit of water damage on the first and second floors.”
Richert says they had a very quick response from the fire department, BC Ambulance, and the RCMP.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The Coralville Fire Department responded to the scene at approximately 5:15 p.m., discovering that the fire had started in the kitchen of one of the apartments.
The sprinkler system activated immediately, containing and extinguishing the fire before it could spread to other parts of the building. As a result, the apartment suffered only minor smoke and water damage.
Sprinkler systems are designed to automatically respond to fires, either controlling or extinguishing them before they have a chance to grow. They reduces fire damage and give people extra time to evacuate safely.
The Coralville Fire Department say a well-maintained sprinkler system can be the difference between a minor incident and a catastrophic event.
According to a Friday afternoon news release, “residents have been safely relocated and alternate plans for providing services have been enacted.” Albion has long housed people who have experienced domestic or sexual abuse.
Ashley McReynolds, Albion’s director of advancement, said the fire started around 10:30 p.m. The damage primarily occurred in the kitchen, but there’s also water damage to “several communal living spaces” after the Evansville Fire Department extinguished the blaze.
“We are unsure how long it will take for the shelter to reopen as insurance adjusters, fire department, etc., are still evaluating,” she told the Courier & Press. “But all other services, including our crisis lines and response service, are still operating normally.”
McReynolds provided security camera images that show a thick coil of fire rising from what appears to be a stove. The photo doesn’t show anyone in the room at the time.
The damage was limited thanks to a sprinkler system the organization recently installed after receiving grant funding from the West Side Nut Club, the City of Evansville Endowment fund, and the Brave Heart Foundation, Albion said in a subsequent news release.
The injured employee, who Albion didn’t name, also played a huge role in attempting to put out the fire, as well as evacuating residents and their pets to safety.
The employee is recovering from their injuries and is “being hailed as acting calmly and heroically,” the release states.
Albion will work with the YWCA, Holly’s House and others to continue to provide shelter to women and men in need while restoration efforts are underway. All other services are still up and running.
The Swift Current Fire Department was called into action at 8:30 p.m. as alarms were ringing on the 300 block of 2nd Avenue Northwest.
Fire crews arrived to evacuation already underway but assisted two occupants from the building to safety.
Light smoke was seen coming from the building with the sprinkler system activated.
“They’ve been shown time and time again that they’re effective and they really help contain a fire until we get there,” Swift Current Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Dean Diguer said.
Structural and content damage was noted but Diguer chalked that up mostly to water damage, not the fire itself.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is under investigation.
Firefighters extinguished a fire at the Mercy North Auburn at Rock Creek complex on Sunday night.
CAL FIRE/Placer County firefighters responded to the multifamily structure on First Street before 9 p.m. According to CAL FIRE, first arriving personnel reported smoke showing from the third floor of the three-story complex.
Placer County Sheriff’s deputies evacuated 10 adjacent apartments on both sides of the fire. CAL FIRE reported the affected unit was fully charged with smoke, with a fire in the back corner and an active fire sprinkler.
“The modern building construction and sprinkler systems held the fire in check for the short time prior to firefighters extinguishing the fire,” CAL FIRE reported on its Facebook on Monday afternoon.
CAL FIRE confirmed the fire was extinguished 10 minutes after dispatch and three apartments sustained major fire and water damage. CAL FIRE also replaced the sprinkler and recharged the system.
There were no injuries due to the fire. The cause remains under investigation.
Mercy North Auburn at Rock Creek is a community of 79 homes for low-income and special-needs families. Located on 3 acres of county-owned property on First Street at the Placer County Government Center, Mercy North Auburn at Rock Creek includes 32 two-bedroom apartments, 25 three-bedroom apartments and 22 one-bedroom apartments.
Residents began moving in Jan. 24, 2022, and a ceremony was held in mid May 2022, which included a ribbon cutting and speeches with several area officials attending.
Doug Shoemaker, president of Mercy Housing California, said that day all 79 homes were occupied by working people and about 20 others who were homeless at one time. They were to pay 30 percent of their income toward rent. A few residents stood outside their new homes watching the ceremony.
At 4:41 a.m., the MFD was dispatched to IVH for a fire alarm with smoke observed and sprinkler activation reported, according to a press release. Crews arrived to find light smoke and an active sprinkler in a room on the fourth floor of the Dack building.
One resident had been removed from the room prior to the fire department’s arrival. Residents were also evacuated from the wing and several rooms on the floor below.
Fire personnel, assisted by IVH staff, were able to control the sprinkler and did a brief overhaul of the room. It was found that a small fire involving an overheated electronic device as well as a basket, papers, and a window shade had set the sprinkler off and caused a moderate amount of smoke to spread throughout the wing.
Damage from the fire was contained to the room of origin however water from the sprinkler system contributed to damage on several floors. No injuries were reported. Fire personnel were on scene for approximately two hours and were assisted by the Marshalltown Police Department and IVH staff.
Mayor Joel Greer and Commandant Todd Jacobus were both highly complimentary of the fire department’s response to the situation, with Jacobus opining that the MFD “has a great team.” Anyone with questions is encouraged to contact the MFD at 641-754-5751.
