Category Archives: Residential

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Florence, WI – Boiler room fire at nursing home suppressed by sprinkler system

Emergency responders evacuated 45 residents of the Golden Living Center nursing home in Florence on Tuesday morning after a fire broke out in the boiler room, Florence County Chief Deputy David Gribble said.  No one was hurt, but the boiler room had smoke and water damage, Gribble said.

Midwest Alarm reported the fire to the Florence County Sheriff’s Office about 9:37 a.m. Florence firefighters found the sprinkler system suppressed the fire, which was contained to the boiler room. Residents were moved to the Florence Elementary School until a determination could be made on the damage to the boiler system and what repairs are needed, Gribble said.

The Florence Rescue Squad, Golden Living Center employees and volunteers, Florence County Health Office, Florence County Aging and Disability Resource Center, Florence County School District, Town of Florence, Pride Sports and Red Cross assisted deputies.

Apartment Building, Residential

Brick, NJ – Apartment fire kept from spreading by sprinkler system

A fire at the Forge Pond Apartments Monday night sparked by a woman burning loose threads off a sweater with a lighter was brought under control by the building’s sprinkler system before it got out of control, Brick Township’s fire chief said Tuesday.  Brick Fire Chief Kevin C. Batzel said the sprinkler system’s response doused the fire and prevented firefighters from having to evacuate the 101 tenants of the Chambersbridge Road building into the frigid outdoors.

Police, firefighters and Brick EMS responded to the fire about 6 p.m. and found a rack of clothing in a common area kitchen off the first floor of the B wing that had caught on fire, but was doused by the sprinkler, Batzel said.  The preliminary investigation showed the woman had been trying to burn loose threads from a sweater after leaving the laundry room and accidentally ignited the sweater. When the fire became too big, she tried to put the clothing in a sink to put out the smoldering clothing, catching more clothing on fire, Batzel said.

She suffered minor burns to her arm, but there were no other injuries, he said.  The tenants were moved to a safe location in the building while firefighters cleared the hallways and kitchen of smoke, Batzel said. Water damage was minimal and the sprinkler system was repaired and back in service later Monday evening, he said.

Responding were the Pioneer Hose, Breton Woods, and Laurelton fire companies, Brick Township police, Brick EMS, the Brick Office of Emergency Management and the Brick Bureau of Fire Safety. An investigator from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office also responded, Batzel said.  “Residents are reminded to be extremely careful with any open flame around combustible material including clothing, particularly synthetic items which tend to combust at a rapid rate,” he said.

“The rapid action of a single sprinkler head held the fire damage to a minimum. That, with the quick work of the fire department and emergency services, prevented the potential of extensive damage and full building evacuation from happening,” Batzel said.  The fire cause remains under investigation by the Bureau of Fire Safety.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Farmers Branch, TX – (No Media Coverage) Fire at senior living center suppressed by sprinkler system

** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – Fire Department Reported ** — Excerpt from FD report.  This afternoon (Dec. 19) at 1418 the FD responded to a structure fire at the Brookdale Senior Living facility (13505 Webb Chapel Road). A small fire was contained to a room by the operation of 1 sprinkler head. This makes 8 sprinkler suppressed fires the FD has responded to in 2016.

The cause of the fire is accidental. A oxygen compressor in the area of origin was in operation at the time and was smoking according to eyewitnesses prior to the fire. Residents were assisted in evacuation when the smoke alarm activated. While evacuating, the sprinkler head fused above the unit. No injuries were reported.

 

Apartment Building, Residential

League City, TX (No Media Coverage) – Fast response from fire service and sprinkler system save occupant from apartment fire

***FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED – NO MEDIA COVERAGE*** Fire Alarm and Fire Sprinkler System Saves a Life of a League City, Texas Resident and His Pet

On December 11, 2016, at approximately 12:13 a.m., the League City Fire Department received a fire alarm call from League City Dispatchers to respond to the Fairway Apartments located at 3045 Marina Bay Drive. This fire alarm turned out to be anything but usual. Upon arrival, the Fire Department noticed a water flow alarm was also activated, thus indicating a possible triggering of the fire sprinkler system. Firefighters immediately responded to the reported apartment to find water flowing from underneath the entry door and an active audible fire alarm sounding. The Firefighters quickly attempted a forced entry into the apartment to begin search and rescue, but were met with resistance at the front door from the occupant.

The occupant apparently woke to the loud pounding noise from the forced entry tools and the displacement of the door frame, which the occupant thought that the firefighters were intruders. The firefighters immediately removed the confused occupant from the apartment and entered using Self Contained Breathing Apparatus. The confused occupant demonstrated signs of hypoxia, difficulty breathing, and was treated by EMS at the scene.

Once inside the apartment, firefighters and investigators noticed the occupant had fallen asleep while cooking. The unattended stove fire was contained by the fire sprinkler system with one fire sprinkler head activation eliminating a possible deadly situation by knocking out the fire. Due to the occupant’s obvious physical condition and hypoxic symptoms, it was apparent that the occupant only had a few more minutes of survival time inside the smoked filled apartment. If not for the notification of the fire alarm system and activation of the fire sprinkler system the occupant would have succumbed to the smoke and fire within the apartment unit. Another great save due to a proper working fire sprinkler system and an aggressive firefighting crew, which both eliminated the hazards before a life was lost.

Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

Keystone, CO – Single sprinkler head keeps condo fire from spreading

An apparent accidental fire Saturday evening caused significant damage in the Mill Creek condominiums in Keystone, but a sprinkler head kept it from spreading, and no one was injured.

Some 15 firefighters from Lake Dillon Fire responded to an alarm triggered by the sprinkler system about 7:15 p.m., and they were assisted by a crew from Red, White & Blue Fire of Breckenridge in extinguishing the fire. They were supported by two volunteers from the Lake Dillon Fire Corps.

The fire caused significant damage to two units and left two others with smoke and water damage. Keystone Resorts found alternative lodging for the people staying at the six-unit building at 56 River Run Road.

The fire apparently broke out in the concealed space between the third and fourth floors, and the initial focus of the investigation is on electrical wiring.

“Fortunately, everything worked as it should: A single sprinkler head kept the fire from spreading, and the alarm alerted the occupants. And, most importantly, the occupants heeded the alarm and evacuated the building immediately,” said Lake Dillon Fire Chief Jeff Berino.

A preliminary estimate of the total damage is between $400,000 and $500,000.

Apartment Building, Residential

Brockton, MA – Sprinkler credited with halting another fire in Brockton apartment building

In 2003, just weeks before Christmas, a fire at an apartment building on Falmouth Avenue in Brockton displaced all 20 people living inside.

Three months later, in March 2004, more than 40 firefighters returned to the same building, at 33 Falmouth Ave., for a 3-alarm blaze that saw flames shooting 15 feet above the roof. No one was in the building at the time but the property was badly damaged.

The building was eventually rehabilitated, and on Wednesday a fire started in a clothing bin inside an apartment of the 16-unit property.

One major addition during the rehabilitation of the building, a sprinkler system, is what firefighters said prevented what could have been a similar scenario to what happened in 2004.

When firefighters arrived they doused the flames and cleared the building of smoke.

A neighbor in the apartment next-door, who is wheelchair-bound, was brought outside by firefighters and he was taken to the hospital to be evaluated as a precaution, Nardelli said.

There were no injuries and no residents were displaced, Nardelli said.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by Brockton police and fire investigators and according to the police log, a complaint has been filed against someone. The details of the charges and the identity of the person was not immediately available Thursday afternoon.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Zelienople, PA – Sprinklers douse fire at retirement center; No injuries

An apartment building sprinkler system doused an electrical fire early Wednesday morning before it spread. 

Chief Scott Garing of the Harmony Fire District said the fire ignited in apartment 234 in the Blue Spruce neighborhood of the Passavant Retirement Community on Burgess Drive. 

“It was a power supply for an electrical device,” Garing said.  He said the female occupant, whose name was unavailable, was sleeping in the living room when the fire started in the bedroom. After responding to the 12:36 a.m. 911 call, firefighters checked the attic and walls to ensure all the flames were extinguished. 

Garing credited the building staff for evacuating roughly 50 residents from their apartments to a central room behind fire doors in the building. He said when the safety of occupants already is addressed, crews can immediately focus on fire suppression. 

Garing said the apartment and one below it sustained water damage. The Adams Area, Cranberry Township and Evans City volunteer fire departments assisted the Harmony Fire District. The Harmony and Cranberry Township ambulance services also responded. 

Fire crews cleared the scene at 2:25 a.m. 

Residential, Single Family Home

Bullhead City, AZ – Garage fire contained by residential sprinkler system

A Katherine Heights garage fire late Monday night was contained by a sprinkler system, the Bullhead City Fire Department said Tuesday. 

The alarm came in at about 10:40 p.m., department spokeswoman Lorrae Viles said. Crews were called to an address on Power Line Road. Viles said they found water flowing out of the garage, but no active fire.

Battalion Chief Craig Stephenson reported that it appeared that the fire had started in a small plastic trash can next to an old sofa.

The residence was equipped with an overhead sprinkler system that was activated and extinguished the fire. If the system had not been in place, Viles said, the blaze could have gotten out of control and caused considerable damage.

Apartment Building, Residential

Miami, OK – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in controlling apartment fire; No injuries

An early Sunday morning fire at the Miami Towers building managed by the Miami Housing Authority at 41 North Main in Miami could have been devastating. However, thanks to quick thinking and fast response, what could have been tragic ended with no injuries and only minor smoke and water damages.  Many residents were evacuated from the 75 unit, seven-story building as a precaution. The apartments in the building are leased to residents meeting HUD income limits with age requirements of 62 years of age and or with a disability.

“It was quickly averted,” Miami Housing Authority Executive Director Mark McDowell said. “It started in a mattress and after they found it the fire department removed it.” Some water damages did occur from efforts to douse the flames, but McDowell said the building maintenance crew would be able to make repairs.

“We have good maintenance men who will be able to repair the building. Water damage was very minimal and we’re still working on that. We had some dry wall damage and of course some ceiling damage below,” he said. “There were no injuries to speak of, really. Some residents may have coughed because of the smoke, but it was pretty much uneventful. It could have been a bad thing. We have all of our evacuation routes posted more than once on each floor. We go through evacuation routes at move in.”

Firefighters received a dispatch call to the Miami Towers at 7:02 a.m. regarding a fire on the seventh floor and arrived on scene at 7:05 a.m. Two units and two engines arrived and the firemen took the stairs and found smoke in the hallway of the sixth floor. According to the Miami Fire Department’s incident report, the fire started on the sixth floor in apartment 601 by an occupant who fell asleep while smoking, starting the fire.

“A sprinkler system was activated and we found a mattress on fire,” Miami Fire Captain James G. Turner wrote in the report.

Miami firefighters removed the mattress and took it downstairs, and opened several windows to ventilate the building. Firefighters placed a sprinkler wedge in the sprinkler discharge to stop the water flow to avoid and mitigate further damages.

“They put a wooden wedge to stop the water flow. Those things do put out a lot of water,” Miami Fire Chief Robert Wright said. “They were able to get there quick and able to stop it quick. It was a quick response from our guys at the station, and with the building being sprinkled, they did a great job. Also, Larry, the maintenance man up there, pulled the pull station to set off the alarm which rings straight to a monitoring company to 911 dispatch”

Patrons of Alene’s Restaurant just sitting down to eat also had to forego breakfast while the firefighters worked.

The building currently allows smoking inside residents’ apartments but new policies at state, federal and local levels may soon change to ban smoking to outside or designated areas for safety and health concerns.

“The resident wasn’t breaking any rules other than she probably shouldn’t have been smoking in bed,” McDowell said. “That’s just not something you should be doing.”

McDowell received several calls from the monitoring service notifying him of the fire alarm. The alarm system also sounded throughout the building and firefighters went apartment to apartment to offer assistance with evacuation, and residents warned each other, according to McDowell.

“Some slept through it,” he said. “There’s a loud alarm that goes off, so I’m hoping that maybe that will make a few of them aware if they need an additional type of alarm. I can’t go ask under ADA regulation. Some of the residents have buddies and will check on each other and go door to door.” Firefighters train specifically for such events, according to Wright.

“We lay out hose and practice in training. For a multi-story residential building with assisted living, those are one of the hardest responses to determine where it’s at and what it is, and they did a great job,” Wright said. “And it’s good that those types of buildings have to have sprinkler systems because that catches it in the incipient phase and it helps everybody.”

McDowell is very appreciative of the Miami firefighters and very grateful no one was injured.

“These firefighters are top notch,” he said. “The residents were out of their apartment for just as short as time as possible. Overall it was handled very well and I’m just glad no one was seriously hurt because it could have been disastrous.”

Apartment Building, Residential

San Antonio, TX – Sprinkler system helps extinguish fire at downtown luxury apartment building

About 55 firefighting units worked to put out a three-alarm fire Saturday at the Agave Apartments complex in downtown San Antonio. The San Antonio Fire Department said the blaze appeared to have started about 5:45 p.m. in a unit on the fifth floor of Building 6. Smoke billowed out of the back of the apartments at Cesar Chavez and South St. Mary’s Street. No residents or firefighters were injured in the blaze.

The Fire Department said the fire came up through the unit and into the attic space, breaking through the roof. There was smoke throughout the building and extensive damage in the unit where the fire started.  Sprinklers helped extinguish the fire in the unit of origin.

Crews had to physically force open the doors of the fourth and fifth floors to make sure no one was still inside the building. The scene is under control, but the Fire Department said it’s still not done for the day.  “We’re going to be out here for quite a while. The fire is under investigation. There’s no reason for us to think it’s anything other than probably something electrical or some type of malfunction. Right now, that’s what we’re looking at,” Chief Charles Hood said.  All of the residents in Building 6 are going to have to spend the night somewhere else. The building has sustained significant water damage.  Residents of Building 6 have rooms waiting for them at the Grand Hyatt on Market Street.  The Fire Department is working with the alarm and sprinkler company to see if everyone else can get back in their buildings.  Residents are able to get their cars from the parking garage.