A water gong alarm at 3:08 a.m. woke residents of a second-floor unit on the 3100 block of Canterfield Parkway East, and they soon realized the furniture on their balcony was on fire, according to a news release from the village.
All residents of the building had evacuated by the time firefighters arrived. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which authorities believe was caused by careless use of smoking materials, within five minutes, the news release said.
“She said, ‘The house is on fire,'” Douglas said.
Fortunately, Douglas’ 74-year-old mother and the rest of the residents of the seven-story Station 101 apartment building on Rantoul Street escaped unharmed in what Beverly Fire Department officials said could have turned into a much worse situation.
A fire that started in the kitchen of a fourth-floor apartment forced the evacuation of residents and caused about 30 of them to have to find another place to stay. A man in the apartment where the fire started was found unresponsive by firefighters in a smoke-filled bedroom, but he became alert when firefighters quickly got him outside and was seemingly uninjured, fire officials said.
Beverly fire Capt. Jeff Sirois said fire sprinklers proved effective in limiting the spread of the flames, although there was a “substantial” amount of smoke and water damage from the fourth floor to the first floor.
“In the grand scheme of things it could’ve been a lot worse if the building wasn’t sprinklered,” Sirois said.
Sirois said the cause of the fire is under investigation but might have been “cooking related.”
Firefighters were called to the building at 101 Rantoul St. at 11:45 p.m. and arrived to find the fourth-floor hallway filled with smoke from a kitchen fire in one of the apartments. Crews worked to fully extinguish the fire, which officials said had been held at bay by sprinklers.
Once the fire was out, crews ventilated the smoke and pulled ceiling tiles damaged by water on the first three floors. The Beverly Fire Department posted a fire watch overnight until the alarm system could be reactivated.
Station 101, formerly known as The Millery, has been an apartment building for decades. It has 99 one- and two-bedroom apartments and is valued at more than $10 million, according to city records. It is unclear how many people live there. Officials from Peabody Properties, which manages the building, did not return phone calls.
Douglas, 48, praised firefighters as well as the management company and the American Red Cross for their response to the fire. Douglas said the Red Cross gave residents gift cards for breakfast and hotel rooms. She and her mother spent Wednesday night in a hotel and were expected to stay one more night before returning to their apartment on Friday.
“Everybody was right on top of everything,” Douglas said.
Douglas said her apartment, which is two floors below the apartment where the fire started, had very little damage, other than wet furniture and rugs. She said there was up to two inches of water on the floor in the hallways below the fourth floor.
“For me, my mom got out,” she said. “Everything else is material stuff.”
This morning at Emerald Care-Midwest City a fire started above the bathroom for one of the resident rooms. The fire was caused by a faulting fan/lighting fixture which ignited just above the hard ceiling. The space above the ceiling was protected by an upright sprinkler head which contained the fire to a small area above the bathroom.
The sprinkler system was under repair before the fire fighters were leaving the site. (Shout out to Daniel Webster and Ryan Caldwell for helping the fire fighters, managers and building maintenance get the situation under control!).
The fire alarm correctly notified the authorities and activated audibles/visuals but did suffer some minor damage from water to the duct detector near the fire. (Another shout to John Deer for restoring the fire system to full service).
There was some water damage due to the fire department and building maintenance not knowing where the sprinkler shutoff valve was located although I did see a visible note posted in the riser room and on the riser itself for its location. Mostly standing water in rooms, corridor and a few ceilings in the rooms around the fire. (Took pictures to document and will post with report). The maintenance engineer is 2 weeks new to the site and Anthony LaGrange was already talking with him about training before this incident occurred and he will stay with it and get them trained on their life safety systems.
Because of the quick response by the fire fighters, remediation team, electrical, mechanical, facility employees and of course our very own amazing team, many residents were able to return comfortably to their rooms late today. This is an elderly nursing care facility and it was very important to get things normalized as fast as possible to relieve the occupants anxiety and fears. No patients were noted to be injured during the fire, building evacuation or clean up.
Crews arrived on scene and encountered the fire in the facility’s laundry room where it was contained by the fire sprinkler system,
No injuries and little damage are being reported as of late Tuesday.
Firefighters remained on scene searching for any remaining fire, venting smoke and checking the sprinkler system.
“Although the fire was limited, our department will continue to remain on scene and work with Medilodge staff to get back to normal,” said the department’s Twitter feed.
The fire happened around 6:58 p.m. in the 6800 block of Brindle Heath Way. Firefighters arrived to find a sprinkler had already extinguished the fire. There were no injuries.
Investigators determined an overheated computer processing unit caused the blaze. Damages were estimated to be $1,500.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, fire sprinklers can save lives and property by reducing the heat, flames, and smoke caused by a fire. While fire sprinklers have been a longtime method for commercial buildings, fire officials recommend installation in homes as well.
The La Crosse Fire Department was called to the Gateway Terrace Condominiums at 100 North 6th Street at 9:18 a.m. after a fire alarm was reported.
Crews found smoke and fire in one of the units.
Battalion Chief Jeff Schott said the sprinkler system in the condo was working properly and is believed to have kept the fire from spreading to other units.
The condo itself had moderate smoke, fire, and water damage according to Chief Schott.
Other condos in the building were also damaged by the water from the sprinkler system.
No one was injured in the incident.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
No one was injured in an Asheboro apartment fire Thursday evening.
According to Chief Danny Floyd with the Asheboro Fire Department, firefighters responded to the West Pointe Apartment Homes, located at 635 Oak Leaf Road, at approximately 5:40 p.m.
The fire, which was caused by items burned on a stove top, was out by the time firefighters arrived on scene.
There was minor fire damage to the kitchen, Floyd said, but the majority of the damage was caused by water from the apartment’s fire sprinklers.
The water damage also impacted two other apartment units.
Firefighters remained on scene for two hours for ventilation, salvage and investigation.
Sarah Israel, who lives in an apartment unit beside the one that caught fire, said she came outside of her apartment and noticed that her neighbor’s door was drenched with water.
“I live right beside her and I heard an alarm,” Israel said, “but that alarm sounded so distant that it didn’t alarm me to come outside and say ‘what is that?’ ”
It wasn’t until Israel wandered outside that she noticed the damp door and was able to tell that the alarm she was hearing was coming from the unit right beside her own.
“I think if I wouldn’t have come outside, it would have been a lot worse because I was the first one to hear.”
The sheriff’s office tells us there was a fire in a resident’s room at Bishop’s Court on E. St. Joseph St. in Allouez. Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke in the hallways. The fire was in a closet in one of the apartments.
Five people were medically evaluated on the scene. Three were taken to a hospital for smoke inhlation: one staff member and two residents — including the resident of the apartment where the fire started. A battalion chief told us they should all be OK.
The battalion chief credited the sprinkler system in the facility for doing “a great job.”
The fire department says 60 residents are displaced temporarily while repairs are made to the fire suppression system. The fire department says some are being housed in another building at Bishop’s Court but some will have to be moved to other assisted-living facilities.
A report from the GBMFD says the cause of the fire was accidental but it doesn’t provide details. The estimated cost of damage to the property is $20,000.
Upon arrival, officers found the laundry room filled with smoke and the automated sprinkler system had been activated.
The sprinkler system was able to contain the fire to a dryer, which officers were then able to extinguish. The building sustained heavy smoke and water damage as a result of the incident.
Officers were on stand-by to assist with the evacuation of residents, which was not needed due to the sprinkler system containing the flames. No injuries were reported from the incident.
The Public Safety Department was assisted at the scene by the Delta County Sheriff’s Department and Rampart EMS.
Crews responded to the Devon 425 apartments on Boylan Ave. and Tucker Street. According to officials, the apartment’s sprinkler systems worked well at minimizing damage.
No injuries were reported, and officials said only two units were damaged–primarily by the water, not the fire.