Category Archives: Residential

Apartment Building, Residential

Durango, CO – Single fire sprinkler puts out grease fire at apartment complex; No injuries reported

A Durango family was displaced Wednesday after a fire at their apartment complex, but fire officials say the blaze could have been much worse.

Karola Hanks, fire marshal for Durango Fire Protection District, said there was a report of a structure fire Wednesday afternoon at an apartment complex on Primrose Circle in Three Springs.

But by the time emergency responders arrived, a single fire sprinkler had put out the blaze. No one was injured, but the family in the unit is temporarily displaced and is being assisted by Red Cross, which is providing temporary housing.

Hanks stressed, however, how destructive the fire could have been, if not for a single sprinkler.

The apartment where the fire originated was the center unit in the complex, which has 12 units in total, plus there are adjacent apartment buildings that make up one large facility for affordable housing.

The family had been cooking in oil when a grease fire broke out, spreading onto the cabinets and then the ceiling. The sprinkler, which activates at temperatures around 155 degrees, went off and extinguished it.

“It was one of those situations where everything that was supposed to go right all fell into place,” Hanks said. “It was an awesome day.”

In the city of Durango, there’s no requirement for sprinkler systems in single-family homes, though more than 500 homes are equipped in the fire district’s jurisdiction, Hanks said.

Newly adopted codes, however, require apartment complexes with more than 16 units to have sprinkler systems. The complex in question had only 12 units, but because it’s used for affordable housing, it falls under different regulations.

“This was good news,” Hanks said. “It all worked like it was supposed to.”

Residential, Residential High Rise

Niagara Falls, NY – Fire sprinkler helped suppress fire on 15th floor of high rise apartment building

A driver for the Meals on Wheels program helped avert a potential tragedy in an apartment building in the 900 block of Cedar Avenue late Friday morning.

Falls firefighters said the driver was making a lunchtime delivery on the 15th floor of the Niagara Towers apartment building when he discovered a fire there.

“He saw smoke coming out of an apartment and a person on the ground,” Falls Fire Chief Joe Pedulla sad.

Pedulla said crews from the 10th Street Fire Station, just around the corner from the apartment building, were returning to their hall at the time the fire call came in.

“It’s ironic but they had spent the morning at the fire training tower working on high-rise structure fires,” the fire chief said. “It’s mot something we train for extensively, but the timing was good today.”

As firefighters arrived on the scene, they found the Meals on Wheels driver and the occupant of the 15th floor apartment outside the building on the front lawn. Both were suffering form smoke inhalation. “(Firefighters) saw smoke coming out of the 15th floor, and the driver had helped the resident downstairs,” Pedula said. “We feared that they might be more people on the 15th floor with smoke inhalation.”

But when firefighters arrived on the 15th floor they found no additional victims.

The driver and the occupant of the apartment were hospitalized for treatment.

Pedulla said firefighters attached a hose to a 14th floor standpipe and then battled the fire in the apartment. A sprinkler system in the building helped suppress the fire and kept it from spreading.

The chief said the fire damage was “extensive” but limited to the apartment where the blaze began. He said other floors in the building suffered water damage from the sprinkler system.

The cause of the fire was listed as electrical, stemming from an air conditioner being powered off of an extension cord.

Apartment Building, Hotel / Restaurant, Residential, Restaurant

Ocean City, MD – Two separate fires within a week extinguished by sprinkler system, one at a restaurant, the other an apartment

The Ocean City Fire Department responded to two separate fires in a downtown restaurant and apartment building over the course of the last week.

The first fire happened late last week in the early morning hours of June 5th, at Flavors of Italy Bistro, located at 513 Atlantic Avenue. Ocean City firefighters forced entry into the building, discovering that the fire sprinkler had activated in the kitchen area and extinguished the fire. Damage was contained to the appliance and adjacent kitchen hood.

The second fire happened just before 3 p.m. on June 8th, at the Trimper’s Apartments in the 700 block of the Ocean City Boardwalk. Firefighters arrived on scene and found smoke on the second floor of the apartment, but on entry they discovered that an activated fire sprinkler had extinguished the fire. Damage was contained to a small area above the stove.

As a result of the quick response of the fire sprinklers and the fire department, the restaurant and apartment building did not sustain serious damage. Both fires have been ruled accidental.

Apartment Building, Residential

Boise, ID – Apartment complex saved from kitchen fire thanks to fire sprinklers

A Caldwell apartment complex was saved Saturday from a kitchen fire by a sprinkler sytem.

Caldwell Fire crews found an empty apartment filled with smoke this weekend. Luckily the fire had started the sprinkler system, which confined the damage to the kitchen.

“Without the sprinkler intervention, there would undoubtedly be significant damage to the property and lives at risk,” according to a spokesperson.

Fire investigators said the system stopped the fire from engulfing the kitchen within two minutes and expanding quickly to the apartments next to and above it.

“If there were not sprinkler system in this building, this would be a different situation. We could be out a building and 6 families could be out of their homes.” – Complex Maintenance Management

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Bel Air, MD – Supply room fire at senior living center kept in check by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Monday evening, Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company was called to the Brightview Senior Living Center for a reported fire.

When Firefighters arrived at the scene, they saw damage from a fire in the supply room.

The fire was kept in check by one fire sprinkler, preventing the fire from spreading.

The Department of State Fire Marshal determined an electrical outlet failed, igniting combustibles.

No injuries were reported at this time.

Residential, Single Family Home

Taneytown, MD – Fire sprinklers keep fire contained to garage after fire pit ashes are incorrectly discarded

A house fire caused by fire pit ashes displaced two Taneytown residents after their garage caught fire in the 200 block of Colbert Street on Sunday night, according to fire officials.

The homeowner was alone in the house when a smoke detector alerted him to the fire, according to Mike Glass, public information officer for Taneytown fire company. The other resident was away at the time, he said. The Office of the State Fire Marshal identified the owner as Alan Sadowski.

Six fire companies responded after the initial call went out at about 8:54 p.m., Glass said, and those first on scene said there was a large fire in the attached garage. A sprinkler system in the house kept the fire mostly contained to the garage, but flames spread to the second floor of the single-family home where the bedrooms are, he said. Fire apparatus returned from the scene at approximately 11 p.m.

Improperly discarded ashes were the cause of the accidental fire, according to a news release from the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Apartment Building, Residential

San Antonio, TX – Apartment fire caused by curling iron put out by fire sprinkler system

Firefighter say a curling iron caused a fire and evacuation of an apartment complex near Downtown.

The fire started around 2:30 a.m. at The Baldwin at St. Paul Square on Center Street near Chestnut Street.

Firefighters say the fire was caused by a curling iron left too close to rolls of toilet paper. The smoke alarms alerted everyone to the fire and the building was evacuated.

The fire was contained to the one apartment and was put out by the building’s sprinkler system.

Estimated damages are $10,000 due to the smoke, water and fire damage.

All residents were able to return to their apartments except the unit with the fire.

Apartment Building, Residential

Jasper, TX – Apartment Kitchen Fire extinguished by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

No one was injured in a fire that broke out late Thursday evening at the Prospect Point Apartments in the 200 block of Premier Drive, behind the Lowe’s Home Improvement Store.

The volunteers of the Jasper Fire Department were dispatched to that location shortly before midnight when it was reported that smoke was coming from an apartment.

Firemen arrived to find that the apartment’s automatic fire sprinkler had already extinguished the blaze, which apparently began on a stove in the kitchen.

Firemen said no one was home when the fire broke out.

Residential, Single Family Home

Valley Center, CA – Garage fire limited thanks to fire sprinkler system

The first was an attached garage fire on Nicole’s Vista Wy. This fire was reported at 6:20PM on Saturday May 30. Units from Valley Center Fire, San Pasqual Reservation Fire and Pala Fire responded. The fire started in the garage, and was controlled by the automatic fire sprinkler system. Because of the fire sprinklers, damage was limited to the immediate area of origin, and the family was able to continue to occupy their home.

Apartment Building, Residential

Halifax, NS, Canada – Sprinkler system helps put out cooking fire at apartment complex; No injuries reported

Over a dozen apartment tenants have been displaced after a small fire caused major inconvenience in St. John’s, N.L., on Saturday afternoon.

Officials say the trouble began when heat from a cooking fire triggered the sprinkler system in one section of the Meadowland Manor apartment complex on Bay Bulls Road.

The building’s owner, Killam Properties, says it could take two days to repair water damage and ensure the building is safe before evacuated tenants can return.

Meanwhile, Canadian Red Cross volunteers have arranged emergency lodging for tenants from 13 apartments. Additionally, Killam Properties says it may temporarily relocate some tenants to vacant apartments in unaffected sections of the building.

The fire was extinguished quickly – no injuries were reported.