According to Cindy Workman, the university’s director of public relations, three small fires had been set at hand sanitizer stations. One of these fires triggered the fire suppression system in the building.
The students were safely evacuated to the student center and no one was injured.
The building was cleared for re-entry, and those students whose rooms were impacted by the sprinkler system were relocated.
Omaha Police and Public Safety are investigating the incident.
Dayton firefighters were called to an apartment fire at a high-rise early Tuesday morning.
Firefighters were called to 108 Melba Street just before 5 a.m.
The district fire chief, Fred Haney, says when they arrived they heard fire alarms going off.
On the 6th floor, he says it smelled like burnt food.
Inside one of the apartments, they found a fire in the kitchen.
He says crews were able to put the fire out quickly.
The fire he said started from a pot of food burning on the stove.
Haney says the buildings sprinkler system helped a lot putting out the fire.
But there is water damage from the sprinklers.
He says a considerable amount of water flowed before firefighters were able to turn it off.
No one was in the apartment where the fire started.
Because of that an investigator has been called in.
No other apartments were damaged in the fire.
And residents were able to stay in the apartments.
The Yuma Fire Department received reports of an apartment fire at La Posada Apartments last Sunday around 1 p.m.
Fire crews found a stovetop fire in the apartment at the scene, but the fire sprinkler had extinguished the fire.
They say a pot of oil had splashed and burned the stove’s burner. The fire was thankfully extinguished before it could spread to the rest of the kitchen.
No injuries were reported.
Upon investigation, it was determined that single fire sprinkler had extinguished the fire started by lit candles inside one apartment. Fire investigators say the resident had lit several candles and then fallen asleep.
No one was injured.
“Fire sprinklers are on duty 24/7. They never sleep even when you do,” said McKinney Fire Marshal Mike Smith. “They are always there, ready to extinguish a fire before it can spread and cause a large amount of property damage.”
According to the National Fire Protection Association, candles start an average of 21 fires a day across the country.
The fire department received a report of a structure fire on the 1800 block of Fieldstone Lane at about 3:10 p.m. Sunday and dispatched the battalion chief, an engine, a ladder truck and an ambulance to the residence.
Upon arrival, firefighters saw that light smoke was coming from the front door of the home, Medeiros said. Firefighters quickly gained access, and they found a couch fire that had activated the overhead fire sprinkler and an elderly man who needed assistance to evacuate.
The man was evaluated for smoke inhalation and transported to Petaluma Valley Hospital for a further evaluation by a doctor, Medeiros said. A woman was outside when firefighters arrived on scene and was not injured.
An additional engine arrived to assist crews with salvage and overhaul to minimize further water damage from the sprinkler, Medeiros said.
The City of Petaluma Building Department and Fire Prevention responded to the scene. After an investigation, the residence was “red tagged,” due to the sprinkler system being activated, and the utilities shut off.
The preliminary fire investigation determined that the fire possibly started from an overloaded extension cord under the couch, but the exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, Medeiros said.
“Had it not been for the activation of the sprinkler system this fire would have grown to become much larger,” Medeiros said. Smoke detectors also alerted the residents to the fire.
The displaced adults have family who can care for them until their home is safe again, Medeiros said. Smoke and water damage is estimated at $25,000.
Rancho Adobe Fire and Cal Fire were also on the scene.
Sixty people escaped, 49 adults and 11 children in 35 families, according to a Red Cross spokeswoman Sunday evening. They were given temporary shelter in a hotel.
Warwick Battalion Chief Thomas F. Brady said he heard the zone alarms, from first to second to third, track the smoke rising through the stairwells of the three-story building that is parallel to Warwick Avenue.
Smoke filled the lobby, Brady said, and firefighters could see flames entering from the hall.
He said the fire started in a basement storage area, set off a sprinkler near the boiler, then rolled across the ceiling and up the stairs to the first-floor hallway. The fire door on the right was closed, which he said prevented damage on that side, but rooms along the hallway going left from the elevator had burns on their doors from the top to about three feet above the floor.
Without knowing that everyone had escaped safely, the first engine called a second alarm to bring more help in searching. About 32 firefighters worked the scene.
No firefighters were hurt, Brady said, but two residents suffered smoke injuries and one slipped and fell on the ice.
The temperature was 18 degrees, Brady said, and residents did not have time to grab car keys or warm clothes. Buses arrived to take them to the Pilgrim Senior Center, so they could be warm while the Red Cross enrolled them for services.
Flames were arrested at the first floor within about a half hour of the first truck arriving and attacking the the origin area with a single hose, he said. Two companies worked the roof. The wind helped clear smoke after firefighters opened sliding glass doors in each room.
At about 5 a.m., firefighters provided escorts to allow one resident from each unit to retrieve keys, medications, cell phones and other necessities before the building, which had no water, heat or electricity, was secured.
Crews arrived on the scene at 10:27 p.m. to find the fire sprinkler system had contained a kitchen fire in an apartment on Farwell St. The building was being evacuated when firefighters arrived, and the fire was out by 10:45, according to McFarland Fire and Rescue.
Smoke was cleared from the building, and the fire sprinkler was restored. Most of the building tenants were able to return to their units before midnight, but the two adjacent units were relocated for the night to allow water remediation of their units’ fire sprinkler water to occur. The apartment with the fire will be uninhabitable for some time due to fire and smoke damage.
The tenant of that apartment was able to stay with family members in McFarland. The cause of the fire is under investigation and is believed to be accidental.
Damage estimates are pending further evaluation. All building occupants were able to evacuate, and no injuries occurred during the event.
With temperatures below zero on Monday night, Madison Metro assisted by providing a transit bus to allow tenants to remain warm during the incident, while the Monona Fire Department also assisted the McFarland crews.
The cold snap can have some significant effects on fire crews as well.
“The intense cold requires us to provide warm areas for the individuals displaced and the firefighters. Firefighters’ equipment will freeze, including our breathing apparatus, and may need thawing to be used. The firefighters that put the fire out last night had their turnout gear frozen while they were wearing it,” McFarland Fire and Rescue Chief Chris Dennis said. “We will rotate crews more frequently to keep firefighters warm and prevent cold injuries such as frostbite. Additionally, when using hose lines, we have to keep water flowing to prevent freezing in the lines, leading to ice on the ground and slip hazards.”
McFarland Fire and Rescue offered the following safety message to community members after the incident:
“The fire sprinklers contained the fire quickly and initiated the fire alarm system. The fire alarm system alerted the occupants and the 911 center of the fire. Without the fire sprinklers, the fire would have been much larger, and the outcome could have been much worse.”
The City of Williamsburg Fire Department, James City County Fire Department and York County Fire and Life Safety were all called on Saturday, Feb. 6 around 8:45 p.m to an apartment fire that occurred in the 1400 block of Middle Street.
There were 22 firefighters initially called for the incident.
When the first crew arrived on the scene at 8:49 p.m., they said they spotted smoke coming from the second-floor hallway in one of the buildings. This was when firefighters noticed a kitchen fire that had been put out by the building’s sprinkler system, which was in the unit where the fire started.
Firefighters conducted salvage and overhaul operations in the affected apartment and said there was no fire extension found. Additionally, there was no other smoke or fire on the other floors in the building, and the fire was under control by 9:08 p.m.
However, the apartments on the first floor (right under the unit where the fire happened) were affected by water damage, from the sprinkler system.
The apartment complex’s management relocated the two occupants who were displaced from the fire.
The City of Williamsburg’s Community Risk Reduction team is investigating the cause of the fire and said no injuries were reported.
The fire was located in an apartment building at 360 South and 400 West. SLC Fire responded around 1 p.m. according to Captain Anthony Burton.
Burton said the call came into emergency officials as an explosion from a refrigerator in an apartment on the third floor. When firefighters arrived they detected “light smoke” on that floor and executed an aggressive response with help from the building’s sprinkler system.
North Aurora Fire Protection District officials said no one was injured in an early Sunday morning fire inside a townhouse garage.
Fire officials said the fire was reported at about 1 a.m. on the 11 block of Kilberry Lane. Responding firefighters did not see any smoke or fire upon arrival, but residents of the townhouse attached to the garage reported hearing “popping” from inside the garage and smelled smoke before alerting the fire department.
When firefighters opened the garage, they could see smoke. A sprinkler system in the structure had been activated, helping to prevent any significant fire damage to the building, officials said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but officials believe contents in the garage sparked the fire. However, they don’t have reason to believe the blaze originated from any vehicle in the garage.
The garage was attached to an “end unit townhome,” and only the residents of that unit were displaced because of smoke damage to the residence, officials said.
No damage estimate was available.
