Category Archives: Retail

Department Store, Retail

Fresno, CA – Elevator machine room fire at J.C. Penney store held in check by sprinkler system

The J.C. Penney store at Fashion Fair Mall closed for business Sunday after an electrical fire prompted its evacuation.  Firefighters got to the store at 11:15 a.m. after smoke started flooding the area inside, Fresno Fire Capt. Brian Price said.

The damage was contained to the elevator equipment room where there was wire damage, Price said, and the sprinkler system already had the fire “in check.”

The fire was put out, and fire personnel worked on getting the system back in working order. The store is still closed, but Price said store staff said they hoped to reopen Monday morning.  “They’ve got some significant cleanup to do,” Price said.

 

Retail, Shopping Mall

Halifax, NS, Canada – Shopping center fire extinguished by sprinkler system; Fire spread limited

Firefighters responded to a store fire in the Halifax Shopping Centre last Tuesday evening. Ben Moss Jewellers suffered both smoke and fire damage, as well as problems due to the water from the sprinklers the blaze set off.

“We received a call about an alarm at the centre at 10 p.m. and upon our arrival, we realize a sprinkler was flowing,” said Halifax Fire spokesman Scott Blackburn.  “We made our way in and we observed the issues at the jewelry store. The fire had been extinguished from the sprinkler.”

There were 14 responders and they forced their entry into the store to clear the area and do ventilation work. There were no injuries. Firefighters believe they may have a cause for the fire.

“There are renovations going on. There was welding work going on above and we believe sparks may have hit and ignited combustible material on the customer counter.”

The Halifax Shopping Centre was open Wednesday, except for Ben Moss, which was slated to be shut down in the next few weeks due to poor financial performance.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Marshall Town, IA – Freezer fire at grocery store controlled with help from sprinkler system

Firefighters were sent to a grocery store on a report of a fire in a freezer Thursday. Crews were sent to the Aldi’s store at 2405 South Center Street at 9:20 a.m.  The store was evacuated as workers tried to track down which freezer the burning smell was coming from.  The fire was seen coming from the back side of a freezer.

By the time fire crews arrived, moderate smoke has filled the entire store, but no fire was visible from the entrance. As they started work, firefighters reported the sprinkler system activated. No injuries were reported.  The investigation found the cause of the fire to be electrical and damage is estimated at $75,000.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Yuma, AZ – Fire in grocery store storage room extinguished by sprinkler system

In one of three fires that happened in Yuma over the weekend, a sprinkler system at a grocery store extinguished a fire Friday afternoon that started in a storage room. Yuma Fire Department spokesman Mike Erfert said that at about 1 p.m. a water flow alarm was received, indicating the fire sprinkler system had activated inside the Del Sol Market, located at 367 W. 16th St.

Erfert said firefighters responded to the scene and quickly made entry into the building, where they found that a fire had been extinguished by an activated sprinkler head. Firefighters ensured the fire was completely out and assisted with clean-up. Damage was limited to the exhaust fan that had caught fire.

“Fire sprinkler systems can keep fires from spreading and can also extinguish them,” Erfert said. Erfert explained that the fan was located in the ceiling of a storage/utility room and could have easily caused serious damage, disrupting operations of the market, if it had not been extinguished by the nearest sprinkler head.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

East Hampton, NY – Sprinkler system helps contain fire at grocery store

Stop and Shop in East Hampton Village reopened Wednesday evening after a fire broke out in a mechanical room hours earlier. 

East Hampton Fire Department Chief Richard Osterberg Jr. said a sprinkler system helped to contain the fire, which appeared to have been caused by debris, such as cardboard, that had been placed too close to a generator.

Employees at the grocery store at 67 Newtown Lane called 911 when they saw smoke, which had spread to the main part of the store, the chief said. They got customers out of the building, he said. Simultaneously, police dispatchers received a call from the alarm company about an automatic fire alarm that had been activated. Smoke was coming out of the back of the store, though it was hard to see because it is up against trees in Herrick Park, he added.

Gerry Turza, the second assistant chief, was the first chief to arrive, and he began “an aggressive interior attack” of the fire, Chief Osterberg said. Within 15 minutes, firefighters used 350 feet of hose to douse the flames “before damage really spread,” he said. Only some of the contents of the room, which also contains refrigerator compressors and circuit breakers, were damaged. The building itself was not compromised.

Chief Osterberg notified the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, which oversees grocery stores, because there was a risk of food contamination from the smoke that spread to the store. He said a representative was to visit the store from the Brooklyn office and would have to sign-off on the reopening.

A Stop and Shop representative could not immediately be reached, but an employee at the store Wednesday evening said it had reopened around 6:30 p.m.

Managing the fire scene was no easy task, as the store is located in the middle of the village business district, off the busy Reutershan parking lot, with many cars and people coming and going, the chief said. The East Hampton Village Police Department was a tremendous help, he said, in closing off the parking lot to additional cars and keeping the entrances open for fire trucks to get through. “P.D. was really phenomenal,” he said. 

The Stop and Shop staff of about 20 was also helpful; they didn’t panic, they evacuated the building, and then stayed together in the parking lot so that they could all be accounted for and there was no question whether firefighters needed to search for anyone. “They have a plan in place that they do run practice on,” the chief said. 

Auto Dealership, Retail

Sidney, OH – Fire at automotive distribution business extinguished by sprinkler system

Saturday, 5:51 p.m.: fire. Firefighters were dispatched to 2640 Campbell Road for a fire alarm. The sprinkler activated and extinguished a small fire.

At this address: NK Parts, Global Supply Chain Management
We’re a global solutions provider with a worldwide viewpoint, with offices in Asia, North America and South America. NK Parts has the ability to deliver products anywhere in the world in the most cost effective and efficient manner.

 

Other - Retail, Retail

West Linn, OR – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at nail salon; Neighboring business spared

Several fire crews responded to a 2 alarm fire at the West Linn Central Village shopping complex at 8:45 a.m. Friday. The fire started at Aqua Nails Bar, a salon that is not yet open. Sprinkler systems extinguished the flames and fire crews called the second alarm to help clear out a large amount of smoke. Neighboring businesses evacuated and had minor smoke damage. There were no injuries. A Tualitin Valley Fire and Rescue investigator is still looking for a cause for the fire.

Other - Retail, Retail

Iowa City, IA – Early morning laundromat fire suppressed by sprinkler system

The Iowa City Fire Department responded to a report of a fire at Laundromania, 1848 Lower Muscatine Road, at 4:55 a.m. Tuesday. Crews encountered heavy smoke coming from the building and found fire coming from a bank of commercial dryers at the rear of the laundromat. Firefighters put out the fire in the dryers and made sure the fire had not spread to the rest of the building, according to a news release. The fire department credited the building’s sprinkler system for suppressing the fire before their arrival. Other businesses in the building sustained mild smoke damage. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Other - Retail, Retail

Las Vegas, NV – Sprinklers keep pawn store fire that started on roof from spreading inside

A Super Pawn caught fire Monday night. The fire was reported around 10 p.m. in the 5900 block of West Lake Mead Boulevard, near Jones Boulevard. When firefighters arrived, there was a fire on the roof and smoke inside the building. The sprinkler system inside was preventing the fire was spreading further. There were no reports of injuries. The cause is under investigation.

Other - Retail, Retail

Auburn, AL – Overnight fire at retail store contained by sprinkler system

A fire early Saturday night at Kinnucan’s on Donahue Drive has temporarily closed the Auburn location as store personnel work to assess damage. According to Auburn Fire Division Chief John Lankford, Kinnucan’s suffered a “small fire” Saturday around 2 a.m.

“When we arrived on scene, smoke and flames were visible on the College Street side of the complex,” Lankford said. “The fire was contained near the origin because the building’s sprinkler system activated. There was very little fire damage, but the water from the sprinkler got some of the merchandise wet. The fire originated near the sign that was mounted on the wall, and the fire cause is still under investigation.”

Kinnucan’s president and CEO Bobby Lake said he estimates the Auburn store will be closed about two to four weeks. “We did have a small fire in the attic area of the store, which the fire department did an incredible job getting put out rather quickly,” Lake said. “Unfortunately with fire comes a lot of water and a lot of smoke, so that’s the problem we’re dealing with now.”

Lake added that the volume of merchandise affected by the fire will prove a bigger problem than cleanup and building repairs.

“The most difficult will be the loss of the product in the store because even though the fire didn’t get to it, the smoke and the water in some cases did, so most of the stuff we carry, you can’t necessarily order in time,” Lake said. “It’s seasonal, so a lot of the spring products had come in, and so the opportunity to replace it, we’re just going to have to see what that is.”

Kinnucan’s has moved its annual A-Day player signing scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon this Saturday to its Tiger Town store in Opelika. Auburn players Cassanova McKinzy, Ricardo Louis, Shon Coleman and Peyton Barber will be signing autographs and interacting with the public. The event is free to the public and will also feature food and inflatables.

“We’re open in Tiger Town, and thankfully it (the fire) happened in the middle of the night, so nobody got hurt and again, what a great job the fire department did at getting the fire put out quickly,” Lake said.