A West End apartment building was evacuated Thursday after a fire started on the 12th floor.
Firefighters were called to the building on West 9th Street and Central Avenue at about 11 a.m.
They said the sprinkler system took care of most of the fire. They did have the ventilate the floor to get out the smoke.
Fire crews responded to the blaze at the Salvation Army on Church and Park Street West, according to AM800, smoke could be seen rising from the back of the building.
Attack efforts were underway by firefighters around 3:30 p.m. with crews reporting the flames were under control about 15 minutes later.
Windsor Fire and Rescue Service says the building’s sprinkler system “did a great job controlling fire spread.”
The fire was out by 4:40 p.m., crews were venting out the smoke and an invesitgator is attending to determine origin and damages.
First: An automatic sprinkler had already put out the kitchen fire.
Second: The fire had most likely started when one of the family’s German shepherds “counter-surfed,” accidentally turning on a stove burner underneath a bag of groceries, Capt. Steve Becker said.
This wasn’t an unprecedented cause, Becker said. “Dogs counter-surfing have caused more than one fire,” he said.
The fire, reported at 8:40 a.m., was located in a residence on the D Street Alley.
Because the home was equipped with automatic sprinklers, the kitchen sustained minor damage, Becker said. No one was injured, he said.
The building has a sprinkler system which extinguished the fire and RFD says the incident is now under control.
No one was hurt or killed during this fire.
The Racine Fire Department was called to the residence at 10:18 p.m.by an automatic sprinkler system water flow alarm. The sprinkler head had extinguished an accidental wastebasket fire in Apartment 210. There were no injuries.
However, the sprinkler caused an estimated $30,000 in damage to the ceiling, walls and contents of the downstairs unit, Apartment 110. Firefighters used tarps and other equipment to protect belongings in the apartment. Apartment 210, where the fire originated, sustained approximately $5,000 in minimal water damage and moderate smoke damage. The fire was determined to have been caused by discarding hot smoking materials in a wastebasket filled with tissue paper.
Captain Kyle McDaniel was one of the firemen on the call.
“We searched each room and JD made contact with him and roused him up,” said McDaniel. “That’s when we realized we had a victim in the room.”
McDaniel said they weren’t able to see their hands in front of their face; that’s how much smoke had filled the apartment.
However, it could’ve been a lot worse if the sprinkler system didn’t go off.
“95-percent of the fire was out when we made entry,” said McDaniel.
The cause of the fire was an electric wheelchair. It belonged to Stacey Todd, who was asleep in the next room.
“Oh man, I tell you what. It’s a scary thing; it’s scary,” said Todd. “But things happen in life, sometimes you can’t help it.”
Todd says he lost everything in the fire, losses that come particularly hard this time of year with the holidays just around the corner.
But he is keeping his spirits up.
“I thank God; that’s all I know,” said Todd. “Because I didn’t know anything. I want to thank the fire department because if they wouldn’t have come, I wouldn’t be here.”
For Captain McDaniel, he says being able to save a life just gives him more reason to do what he loves.
And as for Stacey Todd he’s staying in a motel until he can find some place else to stay or his apartment gets restored.
The fire was reported about 1:20 p.m. at a home in the 25000 block of Palomares Road, according to the Alameda County Fire Department.
Sprinklers in the home’s attic assisted fire crews, who kept the blaze from spreading to the rest of the house, a fire department spokeswoman said.
No one was injured and the residents were not displaced.
Clark County firefighters were called to 2343 Koho Drive, near St. Rose Parkway and Jeffreys Street, after reports of a kitchen fire and found smoke showing from the townhome, according to a statement from Deputy Chief Thomas Touchstone.
Sprinklers inside the home kept the fire from spreading but an elderly resident was trapped upstairs, neighbors told firefighters.
Firefighters were able to rescue three dogs and the resident, who suffered minor injuries, according to the statement.
The cause of the fire was not yet determined.
Just after midnight on Thanksgiving morning, a fire broke out in an occupied apartment building in the 1300 Block of Glenwood Street in Woodland. The fire started when an appliance was accidentally left on and overheated, causing a fire that spread to the cabinets below.
Fire crews were notified of the fire by an automatic fire alarm tied to the fire sprinkler system. A single fire sprinkler, ensuring minimal damage and no injuries or loss of life, quickly and automatically controlled the fire.
This fire sprinkler kept the two occupants of the apartment where the fire occurred safe along with all of their neighbors in other units throughout the building. There was very minor fire damage to a cabinet along with some minimal water damage that was limited to the first floor.
Division Chief Mike Jackson of Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue said, “This situation would have been much worse had the building not been protected with fire sprinklers. There likely would have been significantly more damage along with a greater risk of injury to the building occupants.”
Jackson further stated that, “We are also reminded in times like this of how thankful we are for our crews that respond quickly 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and 365 days-a-year, especially on holidays like today when they are at work, serving the community away from their families.’’
Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue encourages home owners and building owners to consider protecting their property and family members with fire sprinklers. Fire sprinklers offer the most effective way to protect structures and people from building fires.
Visit Clark Cowlitz Fire Rescue at www.clarkfr.org for more information about fire sprinklers.
