Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Columbia, MO – Hallway fire at senior living center suppressed by sprinkler system July 1, 2017 viking210 The Columbia Fire Department responded to a report of a fire alarm with smoke in a hallway at 3700 Lenoir St (Lenoir Senior Services) on Thursday. The fire started on the stove of an unoccupied apartment had been extinguished by the automatic sprinkler system when crews got to the apartment. There were no reported injuries and damage was limited to the one apartment. Smoke and water damages are estimated at $15,000. According to the official release, Assistant Fire Marshal Kyle Edwards investigated the fire and has ruled the fire accidental. The cause was a stove being inadvertently turned on, igniting combustibles being used to pack items for a move. No one was in the apartment at the time of the fire.
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Mercer Island, WA – Parking garage fire at retirement facility extinguished with help from sprinkler system June 30, 2017 viking210 The Mercer Island Fire Department responded to reports of smoke coming from a parking garage of a retirement facility at the 2900 block of 76th Ave. SE at 2:48 p.m. on Wednesday. The building sustained limited damage caused by smoke. Two staff members were taken to a local hospital for smoke inhalation, but no residents or firefighters were injured. As units were in route to the incident, additional reports were received indicating a car was on fire in the parking garage of the building. The alarm was immediately upgraded and additional units were requested. Two staff members tried to extinguish the fire with portable fire extinguishers with limited success prior to the arrival of the fire units. Arriving on scene within minutes, firefighters noticed a car fire burning within the garage causing a heavy smoke conditions, but were able to extinguish this fire with no extension beyond the vehicle in the parking garage. The staff, and residents, were alerted to shelter in place and close all windows and doors. The sprinkler system within the structure was activated and assisted with extinguishment of the fire, along with a single attack hoseline. The four-story retirement facility was occupied with 47 residents and approximately 20 staff members when the fire started. Three Mercer Island, three Bellevue fire units, and three ambulances were used to mitigate the incident.
Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential Davis, CA – Sprinkler limits fire damage in on-campus residence hall; No injuries reported June 29, 2017 viking210 UC Davis students were displaced from their dormitory Sunday after a stovetop fire triggered the building’s sprinkler system, according to the Davis Fire Department. Officials said burning oil caught fire in a fourth-floor unit at 8th and Wake, 1440 Wake Forest Dr., at about 8 p.m. The fire activated the sprinkler system, which soaked that unit as well as three below it. No injuries were reported. About eight or nine students were displaced due to the water damage, but the building owner pledged to put them up in hotel rooms until they could return to their residences, fire officials said. Both Davis and UC Davis fire crews responded to the scene.
Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Watertown, WI – Sprinkler system halts nursing home fire in wing occupied by many nonambulatory patients June 27, 2017 viking210 The Watertown Fire Department continues to investigate a structure fire that injured one resident at Dycora Transitional Health on Hospital Drive early Saturday morning. “We’re not exactly sure of the cause of it yet, possibly electrical,” fire Chief Greg Michalek said. “The fire burned the bed with the patient in it and part of the wall.” Michalek said the blaze was contained to a single room of the 112-bed nursing home, but the wing it is located in also suffered water and smoke damage. He acknowledged that the casualties could have been much worse if things had transpired differently because many of the residents in the wing could not walk by themselves. Thankfully, firefighters along with a number of police officers and Dycora personnel were able to evacuate the 20 patients in the affected wing. “Most of the people in that wing were nonambulatory,” Michalek said. “They had to be taken out in wheelchairs. The sprinkler system activated and put the fire out but there was a lot of smoke.” A call to Dycora’s administrator was not returned before the Daily Times press time this morning.
Apartment Building, Residential Gaithersburg, MD – Residential sprinkler system contains kitchen fire in first floor apartment June 24, 2017 viking210 Firefighters responded to two fires in Gaithersburg Wednesday, one in a townhouse and another in a three-story apartment building, according to rescue officials. A teenager suffered nonlife-threatening injuries in an apartment fire on McCausland Place, while there were no injuries in the townhouse fire on Autumn Hill Way, said Pete Piringer, Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service spokesman. The Autumn Hill Way fire broke out in a second-floor bedroom at about 9:30 a.m., according to Piringer. About 60 firefighters arrived on the scene and extinguished the bulk of the fire by 9:45 a.m. Several adjoining townhouses were evacuated and a few people were displaced. The blaze caused about $80,000 in damage. At about 2:30 p.m., firefighters came to McCausland Place to investigate smoke coming from an apartment building, Piringer said. They discovered that there had been a kitchen fire on the first floor and that the residential sprinkler system had helped to control the flames. A teen was transported to the hospital. The fire caused about $10,000 in damage. The cause of both fires is under investigation, according to Piringer.
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Vernon Hills, IL – Laundry fire at senior living complex contained by sprinkler system June 23, 2017 viking210 A fire broke out in a Vernon Hills senior living complex’s laundry room Tuesday morning, but officials from the Countryside Fire Protection District say a sprinkler system and collapsible doors contained the fire until crews arrived. The fire started in a dryer on the fifth floor of the Victory Centre of Vernon Hills, 97 W. Phillip Road, shortly after 9 a.m. No one was injured in the blaze, according to a statement issued by Countryside Fire Chief Jeff Steingart. “Quick and decisive actions by the Victory Centre staff as well as the emergency response and the fire sprinkler controlling the fire clearly averted a potential tragedy,” Steingart said. Approximately 110 residents and 25 employees were inside the building when the fire started, according to Steingart. He said investigators are still trying to determine why the dryer caught fire. The incident was deemed a structure fire and Countryside was assisted by crews from Libertyville, Mundelein and Lincolnshire. Smoke and heat was contained inside the laundry room and fresh oxygen kept outside by automated doors that closed, Steingart said. He said the laundry room had one sprinkler that functioned properly and limited the fire until crews arrived. A few residents will be temporarily relocated during the cleanup and investigation, Steingart said.
Apartment Building, Residential Aiken, SC – Sprinkler system keeps overnight apartment fire from spreading June 22, 2017 viking210 The Aiken Department of Public Safety is investigating an early morning fire Sunday at an apartment complex on Hollow Tree Drive in Aiken that left multiple people homeless. Sgt. Michael Grabowski, with Aiken Public Safety, said fire crews responded to Hollow Tree Drive around 12 a.m. “It was a small fire,” Grabowski said. “Crews came in quick and got it under control as fast as they could.” Two apartments caught fire, but the buildings sprinkler systems helped prevent the fire from being worse, Grabowski said. No one was injured in the fire, he said. American Red Cross disaster-trained volunteers reported Sunday morning that they are assisting multiple families whose homes were damaged by the fire.
Adult Care/Rehab Center, Residential Glendale, WI – Fire at transitional living center suppressed by sprinkler system June 21, 2017 viking210 This evening at approximately 7:16pm, the Bayside Communications Center received a report from an alarm monitoring company of a fire alarm sounding at Dycora Transitional Living Center, 1616 W. Bender Rd. in Glendale. Within seconds, a 911 call was received reporting a fire on the second floor of the facility. Fire and law enforcement units were dispatched immediately. Glendale Police Officers were on routine patrol in the general area. Officers reported heavy smoke in one of the wings of the building on the second floor upon their arrival. The affected wing of the building was occupied by 16 patients. Facility staff and police began evacuating residents in the affected area. The first arriving fire company proceeded to the second floor of the facility and began searching for the location of the fire. Additional arriving fire companies searched the facility for any fire/smoke victims and assisted in extinguishing the fire. A fire was located that was contained to one room of the building. The fire sprinkler system had extinguished a majority of the fire. Firefighters completed extinguishment of the fire and began to remove smoke from the building. Additional paramedic units were called to the scene as a precaution based on the type of facility involved in the incident. One patient of the facility was evaluated by paramedics but refused transport to the hospital. Damage to the facility is still being assessed. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Additional injuries to occupants and damage to the facility was prevented by the quick activation of the fire alarm and fire sprinkler system. While the size of the fire was small, the amount of smoke that is produced by a fire creates significant challenges for ensuring the safety of the occupants of buildings. According to a release from the North Shore Fire Department, the importance of maintaining working fire alarm and sprinkler systems in buildings cannot be understated and was demonstrated in this incident.
Apartment Building, Residential Petaluma, CA – Apartment kitchen fire extinguished by sprinkler system; Elderly couple and daughter escape without injury June 20, 2017 viking210 A small kitchen fire Friday displaced a Petaluma couple from their apartment at a senior living complex, fire officials said. An oiled pan heating on the stovetop was left unattended and caught fire about 12:15 p.m. at the Vintage Chateau Senior Apartments on North McDowell Boulevard, Petaluma Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Schach said. The fire triggered the sprinkler system in the second-floor apartment. The water extinguished the fire and caused some flooding in the unit and ceiling damage to the first-floor apartment below. Three people were home at the time of the fire, an elderly couple and their daughter, but no one was injured, Schach said. The unit sustained water damage and the residents would be displaced for several days, Schach said.
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Belleview, FL – Single sprinkler controls attic fire at assisted living center; Lightning strike identified as cause June 19, 2017 viking210 The fire that forced the evacuation of residents and staff at an assistant living facility in Belleview was apparently caused by Mother Nature. According to a spokesperson from the State Fire Marshal’s Office, it appears the fire was caused by a lightning strike. Damage to the attic area is approximately $30,000. The exact cause of the fire won’t be determined until the investigation is complete. Marion County Fire Rescue officials said Friday there were reports of heavy weather with lightning in the area prior to the fire. Fire officials said the blaze started in the attic above the electric panels and moved along the trusses. Firefighters, sheriff’s deputies and others placed 56 residents from Hampton Manor Assisted Living, 10590 SE 62nd Avenue Road, onto buses that transported them to another Hampton Manor facility. Fire officials said they received the call about 5:05 p.m. and arrived on scene at 5:11 p.m. The fire was under control at 5:29 p.m. Beatrice Kelty, community director at Hampton Manor, told the Star-Banner that Donna Clifford was in the kitchen when she heard a pop sound in the breaker and then saw fire in the ceiling. Clifford, the dietary supervisor, immediately pulled the alarm. There were seven staff members on duty at the time of the fire. Kelty said she quickly went to the kitchen and doused the blaze with a fire extinguisher. Kelty said she and the other team members, including Dawn Crossley, a resident care manager, went to get the residents and evacuate them. None of the residents were in the kitchen at the time of the fire. When the fire started, Kelty said, they were in the middle of dinner. “My team was excellent and the residents cooperated,” Kelty said. According to a fire report, as the fire made its way through the attic, a single fire sprinkler was activated and it contained the fire to the general area until firefighters arrived. The report also said that as soon as flames were seen in the attic, a staff member pulled the kitchen pull station that activated the hood. Though no fire was present in the hood, fire officials said it prevented the gas from going into the kitchen. “The early actions by the staff to activate the fire alarm and notify MCFR along with the operation of the sprinkler system allowed for a quick response and to contain the damage,” according to the report. Cindy Campbell, director of operations, told the Star-Banner that all the residents remain at the Hampton Manor at 1500 SE 24th Road because the Belleview building sustained significant damage in the kitchen area. Campbell said its unknown when the repairs will begin or end or when residents will be able to return to the Belleview building. For now, she said, they’re looking for an alternate location, and the residents at the Southeast 24th Road facility are adjusting well.
